


Femslash February 2021

by CelestialForests



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Femslash February, Femslash February 2021, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-18 15:00:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 39,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29120115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelestialForests/pseuds/CelestialForests
Summary: It's Femslash February, so here's (hopefully) 28 chapters of Korra/Asami (or at least Korra or Asami related) goodness! If all goes according to plan, this'll be updated daily throughout February! Chapter title will be the prompt I followed for the day.Chapters:1 - Red2 - Pride3 - Buttercup (Community Garden AU part 1)4 - Feather5 - Orange6 - Mermaid AU7 - Lips8 - Yellow9 - Shame10 - Daisy (Community Garden AU part 2)11 - Flare12 - Green13 - Paranormal AU14 - Heart15 - FREE (I did a roommate thing)16 - Blue17 - Sunflower (Community Garden AU part 3)18 - Electric19 - Gold20 - Superhero AU21 - Hair22 - Castle (Paranormal AU part 2, also NSFW)23 - Violet24 - Lily (Community Garden AU Part 4)25 - Water26 - Silver27 - Historic AU (1920s)28 - Hands
Relationships: Bolin/Opal (Avatar), Korra/Asami Sato
Comments: 73
Kudos: 427





	1. Red

Asami chose her outfits carefully.

Each shoe carefully matched with an outfit, each skirt paired with complimentary leggings, every pair of pants assigned a jacket and shirt combo.

She had started to think of it as armor, after a sort; walking into a board meeting and looking _impeccable_ , starting at dauntingly beautiful, set her board, or investors, or whoever she was meeting with, on the back foot. It gave her the initiative.

It also let her play the role of _Asami Sato, genius heiress and businesswoman_ ; even if those things were true (they were), it was easier to be the version of herself that people expected. Especially when the version they expected was one they were slightly intimidated by.

The exception was her red lipstick.

It had been a staple of her wardrobe for years, now, and matched almost every outfit in her closet. Yes, she had different shades, even different shades of _red_ , but… The deep cherry red she wore almost every day was her favorite. It offset her pale skin, brought out her piercing green eyes… She knew she looked great in it. She _felt_ great in it. It served as the final piece of her armor, yes, but she also just loved wearing it.

Plus, as an added bonus, it made Korra stutter.

She hadn’t been sure it was her lipstick the first time she’d noticed it; they had been out to grab dinner, and Korra had been telling some story. Asami had been paying attention, and absent-mindedly bit her lip as she listened to the tale of how Korra had thwarted some criminals.

In her defense, it _had_ sounded dangerous; there had been multiple benders, and Korra had been outnumbered. She had bit her lip because she was listening to the story.

Korra’s eyes had flitted down once, bounced back up to her eyes and then just as quickly bounced back _down_ to her lips. The avatar’s words, which had been excited and compelling, had trailed off into something closer to a stammer, with an abundance of pauses. The story ended, somewhat abruptly (“So, yeah, I, uh… beat the guys up, and then the cops arrived and arrested them.”), and Korra had angled her face towards her food, focusing on eating, with a slight blush on her cheeks.

Asami had cocked her head to the side, and watched the girl eat for a moment. Korra often acted strangely; perhaps she’d suddenly thought of something, or realized how hungry she was.

It wasn’t until it happened _again_ , three nights later, at a different restaurant, in the middle of a different story, that Asami began to suspect her lipstick as the culprit.  
  
She’d merely licked her lips after a sip of wine; not a sensual display, just a quick motion, out then back in. Korra had fully stopped telling her story for three and a half seconds, recovering with a flurry of blinks and a blush that spread down her neck.

Asami had been flattered; lord knows she spent enough time being mesmerized by Korra’s biceps and shoulders. It was nice to know she had a way to turn the tables on the Avatar, to give someone else the dry mouth she so often got around the Southern Water Tribe girl.

But, almost a week later, at a game night with Mako, Bolin, and some other friends, they had been in a conversation when Asami had been struck with the idea; could she make Korra’s focus fail on _purpose_? And so, she’d gently began to gnaw on her lower lip as Korra had continued to regale her with some Avatar excitement.

Korra had continued with her story, with no change.

Inwardly, Asami had frowned. She had been so _sure_ it would work. Maybe licking her lips… 

And so she’d taken a gulp of her drink, and licked her lips after. _Maybe_ she had been flirting with a sensual display that time.

Nothing. Korra’s hands continued to gesticulate, and her story, about some bank robbers, continued unabated.

It hadn’t been until she’d gotten home that she realized she had been wearing a much darker, matte shade of lipstick than her usual; she still looked fantastic (obviously), but it wasn’t her go-to, glossy crimson.

The next time they’d seen each other, Asami was careful to be wearing her favorite ruby-red. She’d bit her lip as they were looking over the menus, and had seen Korra’s hands twitch, despite the other woman pretending to focus on deciding on what to order.

Satisfied that she had found the answer to breaking Korra's focus, Asami had continued to torture Korra, subtly interrupting stories, or de-railing the avatar’s train of thought.

The first time Korra had kissed her she had been wearing that shade. As Korra moved her mouth to Asami’s neck, breath tickling her ear, she had said, softly, “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that. You and that fucking red lipstick just _torture_ me…”

Asami hadn’t been able to keep her laughter fully contained; it had come out more like a huff, but it had come out nonetheless. Korra had paused, and pulled back, staring at her with brows furrowed. Asami’s blush hasn't given her away, but the smile she failed to hide did.

“...You were doing it on purpose. Oh my _god_ you were doing it on _purpose_ ! _Asami Sato_ you are _terrible!_ ” Asami had dissolved into giggles as Korra had started tickling her sides, face pulled into a mockery of stern disapproval. “You and your _red lipstick_ , and your _lip biting_ , and your… just… you!”

Asami had apologized, then, and asked, demurely, how she could make it up to the Avatar.

They hadn’t slept much, that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it canon? A slight AU? Who knows!


	2. Pride

“Asami, it’s totally understandable that you’re nervous, but  _ relax _ ! It’s Pride!”

Asami sighed as she applied the finishing touches to her make-up. Opal had convinced her, after numerous conversations (“You’re single, and bi!” “Think of the attractive people who will be there! And you’ve got better odds of them being not shit-heads!” “If you don’t come Mako’s just gonna third wheel Bolin and I all day,  _ pleeeeeeease _ ‘Sami?), to attend her first Pride parade. She’d been out to herself since forever, and out to her friends for years now, but Asami had just… never felt the urge to attend a Pride parade. The noise, the crowds… it just didn’t sound like her scene.

But Opal was insistent, and a good friend, even when Asami missed their lunch dates because she was busy in the engineering labs of Future Industries, and so Asami had agreed. Bolin and Mako would be meeting them here momentarily, and then they’d be off to the parade, to do… whatever one did at a Pride parade. Walk? Shout? Try not to gawk at semi-naked strangers  _ too _ much?

Asami pushed the cap back onto her mascara, and tossed it onto the bathroom counter. “I’m  _ trying _ to relax, Opal, but you know me, I’ve never been good at relaxation.”

Opal sidled up to her, giving her a hug from the side as they looked into the bathroom mirror. “Don’t worry, Asami, it’ll be fun!”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mako and Bolin had arrived, in matching rainbow t-shirts that had Opal crying on the floor with laughter (she had eventually managed words, explaining that  _ everyone _ would assume that they were a gay couple, and not a pansexual man and his straight brother), and flags for everyone in the group. Setting out to walk to the parade, Asami had been struck by just  _ how _ crowded it was; they weren’t even at the parade proper, but it seemed the entire population of Republic City was out today, and the energy was infectious.

As they drew nearer to the actual location, Mako increasingly seemed to be glued to his phone; eventually Opal asked him what he was doing.   
  
“Oh, I have a friend from class who wanted to meet us here, so I’m just giving updates on where we’re at.”

Just then, a shout of “ MAKO!” sounded over the crowd. Mako stretched up, looking over the heads of the crowd, and a smile broke out on his face.

“Korra!” He called back, waving a hand up in the air. Asami strained to see who he was waving at, but the crowd was too dense, and just  _ slightly _ too tall, for her to see them. Mako glanced back at the group. “Ok, she’s here, her name’s Korra and she’s great.”

Asami blinked at this  _ entirely unhelpful _ introduction, and was then thoroughly distracted when a woman burst through the crowd and embraced Mako in a hug.

She was wearing a black bandeau, jeans shorts, and rainbow thigh-high stockings, leaving an impressive amount of tanned brown skin on display. Her hair was cut short, in a  _ ridiculously _ cute bob, and as she embraced Mako Asami couldn’t help but gawk at the muscles apparent on her arms and back.

Korra broke the hug, and turned to face the other three of the group. “Hi! You must be Bolin, but Mako didn’t tell me anything about anyone else here!” Her excitement was obvious, and the giant grin she had on her face made Asami  _ want _ to smile back. She distantly heard Opal introducing herself, and then those bright blue eyes were turned her way.

Korra stared into Asami’s eyes, and her grin softened somewhat, going from a 100 megawatt spotlight to a lazy sunny afternoon.

Asami was nudged out of her impromptu staring contest when Opal’s elbow connected with her side. A blush rose in her cheeks. “ _ Oh _ , umm, I’m Asami.” She jerked her hand out in front of her, for a handshake, instantly realizing that Korra had  _ just _ hugged Mako, and then, after introducing herself, Bolin and Opal.

If Korra noticed the awkwardness consuming Asami, she didn’t mention it (Opal, however, was snickering in the background). She reached out and grabbed Asami’s hand, shaking it with a firm grip. Asami’s blush deepened as she felt how warm and smooth Korra’s hand was in her’s.   
  
“I’m Korra. But I guess you probably learned that just now. But that’s fine.”

Asami was still staring into those blue eyes. It was like swimming in a pool, like diving into an ocean of blue; Asami would have sworn the crowd noise surrounding them had died down into a low murmur.

Korra’s eyes flitted to the side of Asami, and her face once again lit up with excitement. “ _ Oh! _ Face painting!” Without another word, she was darting past Asami, and, still holding her hand, dragging her along to, apparently, a face painting booth.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Opal, Bolin, and Mako followed them to the booth, but by the time they arrived Korra was already sitting patiently, a pansexual flag being painted onto her left cheeck to match the pride flag newly applied to her right. Opal sidled up next to Asami and nudged her, leaning closer to whisper in Asami’s ear.

“See? Attractive people!”

Asami had shushed her, and shoved Opal back towards her boyfriend, a light blush still dusting her cheeks; there was no doubt Korra  _ was _ very attractive. So attractive that there was  _ no _ way she was single, Asami was certain.

Korra hopped out of the chair to make room for Bolin, who seemed to be matching her level of excitement for face paint. She stood next to Asami as Bolin got a ‘straight ally’ design painted on both cheeks.

“So, how do you know Mako?”

Asami studiously kept her attention on Bolin and the face-painter as she answered (every time she ended up meeting Korra’s eyes it felt like she forgot to breathe). “Oh, I met Opal in a class at Republic University, and we’ve been besties ever since. Then I  _ had _ to meet Bolin to see what guy had stolen her heart, and somewhere along the way Mako got dragged into our weekly board game and movie nights.” Despite herself, she glanced over at Korra; the woman’s eyes were firmly fixed on Asami, her gaze intense but not off-putting. Asami felt the blush she had only  _ just _ fought off returning to her cheeks, but she held Korra’s gaze. “How long have you known Mako?”

Korra smiled, glancing over at where Mako was now getting a pansexual flag painted on his cheek. “We were in a math section together, but didn’t  _ really _ get close until we went to the same aikido class one night. He’s pretty good, but I beat him in a best of five, and he was so upset he made me promise to show up the next week for a rematch.” A smug grin appeared on Korra’s face. “That was six months ago, and he’s only beat me like four times.”

Opal appeared beside Korra, a pansexual flag on her forehead. “Ok ‘Sami, it’s your turn! Also Bolin spotted a food cart just down the street so we’re gonna go grab some Korra keep her company while she gets her face painted ok byeee!” Before Asami could voice any complaints or disagreements, she was being sat in the chair by Bolin, and then Bolin, Mako, and Opal were walking away down the street.

Opal was giving her the most suggestive eyebrows she had ever seen, pointing at Korra’s back as she did so. Asami’s face flushed.

“So, what flags did you want today?”

Asami started, looking over to the face painter. “ _ Oh _ , umm, the bi flag. And a pride one.” She glanced back at Korra, who was giving her that same soft grin from earlier. As the face painter held her chin and started painting, she and Korra held eye contact; Asami expected Korra to look at the different people around them, or glance at her phone, but Korra held Asami’s eye contact, a faint blush rising in her cheeks to match Asami’s.

Sooner than Asami would have guessed, the face painting was finished, and she was standing from the chair, stepping closer to Korra.

Korra gestured at her cheek (and did the other woman’s eyes flit to her lips momentarily?), “So you date women sometimes?”

Asami’s blush intensified, but she held Korra’s eye contact. “I haven’t yet, but if I found the right woman I would, yeah. What about you?”

Korra’s cheeks  _ definitely _ darkened with a blush, and she reached up to itch at the back of her neck, but she didn’t look away. “I, uh- yeah. It’s been a while since my last relationship, but yeah. Women are great.” She paused, taking a breath and holding it, and then said, in a rush, “Out of curiosity are you dating anyone right now?”

Asami’s blush deepened, but she kept staring into those oceanic pools of blue. She bit her lip as she shook her head, smiling slightly.

Korra smiled, still blushing. “Cool.” They stood, staring into each other’s eyes, grinning like idiots, until the face painter cleared their throat.

“This is all very adorable and all, but if you two could just step back like three feet that’d be amazing, I’m trying to paint more faces here.”

Korra jumped, blush deepening, and Asami laughed, pulling her away from the face painter and towards the food their friends had headed towards. And if their hands stayed linked together after they arrived, well, that was their business, and no one else’s.


	3. Buttercup

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the start of a 4 chapter Community Garden AU! Yes that's ridiculous, *yes* it kind of flies in the face of doing shorter works in femslash febuary, *YES* i'm doing it anyways.

Asami was glad she’d finally decided to take part in the community garden. Over the past years of taking over Future Industries from her now-jailed father, she’d lost touch with a number of her hobbies. And while she hadn’t gardened in _much_ longer, it was nice to be back in the dirt.

It reminded her of her mom, and the care she’d put into the gardens outside the Manor. Yes, they’d had hired gardeners who worked many more hours than Yasuko, but she’d often gone out to relieve stress, or just enjoy the sun. And the entire layout of the gardens had been planned by her, each year; which flowers went closest to the door, which veggies were planted in what bed.

Asami probably hadn’t done any gardening of her own since then; when she took over the company, and by extension the Manor, she’d hired gardeners (her father had fired the gardening staff when Yasuko died), and let them make all the decisions (they’d done a fantastic job, year after year). But getting into the nitty-gritty of gardening, especially in a plot so close to her apartment in Republic City, was already shaping up to be a good choice.

She’d decided on sensible plants, naturally; zucchini, jalapeno peppers, raspberries, some lettuce, and some snap peas. Surrounding her half of one of the community beds, she was leaving space for some herbs; mint, chives, and basil. When Opal had suggested that she join the community garden initiative that Future Industries had sponsored, as a relaxing hobby, Asami had initially declined.

When Opal had pressed her, citing the phenomenal positive press it would generate, Asami had, again, declined.

But when Opal had cornered her in her office, demanding to know what she’d had to eat that week besides coffee, granola bars, and popcorn, Asami realized that, maybe, her CFO had a point. And so here she was, on the first saturday in March, kneeling down and troweling out neat rows to sprinkle seeds into. Yes, she was wearing a brand-new outfit she’d bought _specifically_ for gardening, and _yes_ , her trowel, gloves, and gardening pad she was kneeling on were also all brand new. But she didn’t want to be caught unprepared.

Caught unprepared, for example, in the way that the person responsible for the other half of her garden bed seemingly was.

The woman was easy on the eyes, muscles obvious in her casual outfit, but she seemed to be hung over, or at least very tired; she was wearing dark sunglasses, and had yawned five times while staring, unmoving, at her half of the garden bed. She had also showed up in sweat pants and a tank-top, with no equipment or seeds. After fifteen minutes of either staring at the dirt or sleeping upright, the woman had turned and walked away.

In all fairness, she had waved at Asami when she’d arrived, so that was _something_ . But, honestly, if you were going to show up on the first weekend the planters were open to planting, wouldn’t it make more sense to be a _little_ prepared?

As Asami was finishing up the herbs which would border her half of the bed, the woman re-appeared; she looked much the same, but had a… ziploc bag of seeds in her hand, unlabelled.

She waved to Asami again, and pushed her sunglasses up onto her head, a wide grin appearing on her face.

Asami was momentarily distracted by the piercing blue eyes of her gardening partner before she remembered to wave back. And, despite her introverted instincts, Asami called out to the woman.

“What, uh, are you planting?”

It had sounded more polite in her head. She hadn’t gone with the first draft (“Are those even plantable seeds in that bag?”), and hadn’t critiqued the woman’s lack of gardening technique (“Just tossing those seeds on the ground, huh?” had also been a comment rejected by the editor in her brain).

“Oh, these?” The woman had looked at the bag she was currently sprinkling seeds out of, and furrowed her brow slightly for a moment, before apparently _remembering_ what she was _currently planting_. “These are Buttercups, those cute yellow flowers?”

Asami bit her tongue as the woman continued to literally scatter the seeds across her half of the garden bed. No rows, no labelled signs (Asami had bought multiple wooden sticks to label her rows, and hand-written on them in her best handwriting; of the eight labels she had, she’d ended up with ten that were too messy/illegible to use). Asami turned back to her garden plot, intent on finishing up and ignoring whatever the other woman would decide to do with her plot; maybe it would _only_ be buttercups, at this rate.

“Yours looks great!”

Asami’s eyes darted back over to the woman, who was gesturing at Asami’s organized half.

“Very, uh… clearly demarcated.”

Asami hummed in response, not particularly interested in making conversation with someone so clearly uninterested in proper gardening technique.

“My name’s Korra.”

Asami’s attempt at ending the conversation had, apparently, not worked; the other woman, Korra, was now standing closer, extending a hand to shake Asami’s.

Inwardly, Asami sighed. Here it came, the ever-horrible experience of introducing herself to people and watching them realize she was one of the richest women in the world.

Asami slipped the dirty glove from her hand, and reached out to clasp Korra’s.

“...Asami.”

She’d thought that maybe if she withheld her last name Korra wouldn’t recognize her, but the other woman’s eyes bulged in their sockets when she said her name; apparently that had been too much to hope for. Asami braced herself for the inevitable barrage of questions (“Why are _you_ doing your own gardening/shopping/etc?”), or jokes about her wealth (“Hey, any chance you can pay my rent/car payment/hospital bill/etc?”), or since comments about Future Industries less than stellar past (“Y’all still using overseas child labor?”).

“Nothing quite like gardening, huh?”

Asami blinked at the other woman, neck angled up from where she was still kneeling. Korra had a wide smile on her face again; the shock from recognizing Asami seemed to have passed. Her brow furrowed slightly, and a small smile appeared on her face as she responded.

“No, there really isn’t.”

Korra nodded, still smiling, and then walked the few steps back over to her half of the planter bed, looking down at the dirt and apparently lost in thought. After a few more moments, she sealed the ziploc bag of Buttercup seeds in her hand, and walked away again, back down the sidewalk.

Asami focused back on finishing up the herbs she had been planting.


	4. Feather

“Do you want anything to drink? A nightcap, some tea?”

Asami was trying her best to be a perfect host; this was the first time Korra had been inside her penthouse apartment, and she didn’t want to fuck it up. Sure, the three dates they’d been on had all gone great, and been full of eye contact, fleeting touches, blushes, but…

Korra was  _ in her apartment _ . At  _ night _ . This was taking things to a new level.

“Oh, uh, I’d take some tea.” Korra was already walking over to the full-wall windows, which looked out over the Republic City skyline. She’d slipped her shoes off when she entered the apartment, and the sight of the Southern Water Tribe woman looking so relaxed, so  _ domestic _ , in Asami’s apartment, sent a pang of… something through Asami’s heart. The yawn that Korra let out as she stretched her arms wide only intensified the feeling.

_ Don’t get caught up in your clingy feelings, Asami. It’s only been three dates. _

Asami filled the kettle which perpetually lived atop her stove with water, and started it warming. Reaching up into the cupboard where she stored her tea, she began to read the flavors off aloud. “I’ve got mint, green tea, English Breakfast, Earl Grey, ‘Sleepy Time’, whatever that means, a ‘Citrus Explosion’, Green Tea...” Gathering the teas into her hands, she set them on the counter, and turned to face Korra.

Korra, who had crossed silently into the kitchen, and was standing right behind her. Asami’s heart fluttered in her chest, and, unprompted by anything, a blush rose in her cheeks.

“...Hi.” She managed, a crooked smile on her lips.

Korra smiled back, a faint blush dusting her own cheeks. “Hi. Can I… Can I kiss you?”

Asami reached out and grabbed the hem of Korra’s shirt, pulling her forward and closing the small gap left between them. The taste of Korra’s lips was exactly as she remembered it; Korra tasted like fresh rain on the pavement, like a cool breeze in a stuffy room, like watching fireworks when it’s a little cold outside but you’re warm under a blanket.

Suffice to say, kissing Korra was nice.

Eventually, as the kiss had started to deepen, and introduce soft bites, and tongues, the kettle on the stove began to whistle. Asami pulled away from Korra, face flushing.

“I’ll, uh, I’ll make us both green tea. You can, uh-” Asami’s face flushed darker, but she continued, “you can go make yourself comfortable?” She gestured towards her bedroom, trying to hide how embarrassed she was, but still wanting to move things towards the bed.

Korra waggled her eyebrows at her, but blessedly kept any comments to herself, and walked through the doorway towards Asami’s bedroom.

As Asami poured hot water over the tea bags, she heard Korra’s voice from her bedroom. “Asami, your bed is HUGE!” Asami rolled her eyes;  _ yes _ , she owned a California King, but… she was an heiress, CEO of the largest corporation in the world; she deserved nice things.

Asami bobbed the two tea bags up and down in their respective mugs, and considered her next move. Glancing down at her outfit, a nice (incredibly nice) pair of slacks and a button up shirt, she opted to unbutton the uppermost button, revealing some more cleavage and a hint of her lacy bra. Obvious? Yes, but effective? Hopefully.

“Asami your bed is SO SOFT!” Korra’s voice was muffled, like she was laying face down on the bed. Asami couldn’t argue; she’d spent an un _ godly _ amount of money on a feather mattress topper, on top of the already luxurious mattress. She might not spend too much time sleeping at her apartment, but she was going to get good sleep whenever she was there, goddamnit.

Eventually, she decided the tea was steeped enough, and her outfit was  _ sensual _ enough; grabbing both mugs, she walked slowly into the bedroom. She momentarily tried to add an extra sway to her hips, but instantly realized carrying two full mugs of tea without spilling was trickier than she had been expecting, so dropped that plan.

Korra was indeed face-down on her bed; or at least, she had been. In the few moments since calling out how soft Asami’s bed was, the other girl had curled slightly onto her side, and her breathing had slowed; she was now, clearly, asleep.

Asami couldn’t believe it, at first. She set the mugs down on her dresser, somewhat forcefully, with a semi-loud *clunk*, and… nothing.

She cleared her throat twice, first softly, and then more firmly. Still no movement from Korra.

She then thought back to Korra telling her about her day, earlier in the evening; it had been a funny story at the time, but Korra had been talking about running around all day, solving problems the rest of her fire engine squad hadn’t wanted to deal with, and then going out on call when emergencies had arisen.

Overall, it wasn’t actually  _ that _ surprising the shorter woman had fallen asleep so quickly; it  _ was _ late, and she’d had a long day.

  
  


Korra woke up once, slightly, when Asami moved her up to the pillows and under the blankets. She muttered something about wanting to kiss Asami, and then something even less decipherable about Naga, but Asami hushed her, and planted a kiss softly on her forehead. When Asami slipped under the blankets, Korra pulled her close, latching onto her side and sighing contentedly.

Asami slept better that night than she had in months. And, while she woke the next morning hungry, she and Korra didn’t make it to the kitchen until  _ well _ after lunch time.


	5. Orange

The hardest part about dating Asami was convincing her to take care of herself. But she ran Future Industries; the multi-million yuan corporation wore many hats these days, from infrastructure renewal and repair, to automobile design and production, to finance, to public transit, to medical breakthroughs… And, through it all, Asami seemed convinced that she was the only one who could solve any issues that popped up.

To be entirely honest, she _did_ solve any issue that crossed her desk, but that meant she left the apartment early in the morning, and returned home late at night. Korra had taken it upon herself to ensure her wife was taking lunch breaks, which she could only _actually_ be sure of when she brought Asami lunch herself.

Korra had tried to make Asami promise she would always eat lunch, or always leave work by 7 PM, but the week after that had happened a critical flaw had been noticed in the gas lines running through Republic City, and Asami had quite literally been saving lives working through lunch and extra late hours.

A month later it had been union meetings with the company’s workers, negotiating for more vacation time and family leave, which Asami was all for but the board disagreed with… The point was, no matter what hard and fast rules Korra tried to institute to limit Asami’s work hours, an exception would inevitably crop up proving those rules as impossible to follow.

So Korra adapted; she brought Asami lunch, every day, sometimes homemade, sometimes take-out. Almost every day they ate together; most days Korra could convince Asami to take longer than 30 minutes to eat, talk, and just decompress.

Some days Korra arrived in her wife’s office to find Asami elbow-deep in a pile of paperwork, and ate quietly while Asami worked, taking bites between contracts or briefings from various underlings.

And to be fair, sometimes something went wrong with some spirits, or criminals, and Korra was the reason lunch was cut short. But by and large her Avatar duties were more ceremonial these days.

Ensuring Asami ate lunch was easier than ensuring she worked reasonable hours, but Korra had struck upon a solution for that as well.

Every day, barring an actual emergency, Korra showed back up at Asami’s office, ten or fifteen minutes before sunset. And even when she was busy, Asami would stand from her desk, and they would walk up to the roof of the Future Industries building.

The view of Republic City’s skyline, of the sun reflecting off of the bay, never failed to take Korra’s breath away. They would stand, hand in hand, or arms around each other, and watch as the sky colored with vibrant oranges, reds, and yellows.

Even on days when Korra or Asami were traveling, on those rare times they were forced to spend time apart, they would take a few minutes to stand, and watch the sunset. Business trips or global emergencies, depending on who was doing what, they never spent too many nights apart, but they would take time out of their day and watch the sunset.

The actual sunset only lasted maybe five minutes, depending on when you started watching, but the sight of the bay lit ablaze with the shining light of the sun was something the both of them enjoyed, and something that Asami enjoyed enough to step away from her work.

Or maybe it was Korra’s company, not the impressive view.

When the sun had set, and the sky’s coloration had turned to darker purples and blues, Korra would kiss Asami on the cheek; on busy days, Asami would sigh, kiss Korra’s cheek, apologize, and get back to work. On slower days, Asami would gather her things from her office and ride the elevator down Future Industries with Korra, venting about her day, or listening to stories of foolish criminals, or some air bender news.

There were some days when the two would watch the sunset from their living room windows, wine glasses in hand.

Those days were their favorite.


	6. Mermaid AU

It wasn’t that Asami wasn’t having fun.

On the contrary, her first time attending a renaissance faire was shaping up to be, overall, a blast. Opal, who was being dragged here by Bolin, had convinced her to come, saying it was “Unbelievable a nerd like you hasn’t ever been to a ren faire!” Which, honestly, it was a little unbelievable; and apparently the summer before their Senior year of college was the time to fix that. Between the drinking songs echoing from the tavern, and the delicious food they’d eaten already, Asami was truly enjoying herself.

It wasn’t even that Bolin had also dragged his brother, Mako, along.

Sure, they’d dated, or at least fucked around a little bit, but that was months ago now; Asami was over it, and even if Mako wasn’t he was making a conscious effort to not be awkward.   
  
Which, it being  _ Mako _ , wasn’t really working at  _ all _ , but it was the thought that counts.

No, the reason Asami was sitting on a bench, frowning, in the middle of the fairgrounds, was the mermaid display.

It had caught her eye as soon as they entered, earlier that morning. The woman inside, either dark skinned or  _ very _ tan, was wearing an incredibly realistic tail-outfit, its scales a shimmering blue, even through the wall of the tank. She had been propped on the top of the tank wall, arms hanging out, chatting with one of the ‘tavern wenches’ (the faire’s words, not Asami’s).

Sure, it seemed a little out of place, a hard left turn away from ‘historical anachronism’ towards ‘fantasy’, but there was also a shop (shoppe?) selling magic staves, wands, and orbs, so Asami guessed a mermaid fit right in.

As the foursome wandered around the fair, watching fake sword fights, Asami kept glancing back over at the mermaid; almost immediately, the ground in front of the tank had been full of children, watching with rapt attention, gasping as the mermaid did… something or other with some fake gems in the water, making it seem like she had summoned them from out of a seashell.

She was a good performer. That’s why Asami kept looking over. 

But then Bolin had gotten his eye fixed on the jousting tournament, and Asami hadn’t really wanted to watch faux violence for an entire forty-five minute show, and so she’d begged off, claiming a headache from too much sun, and sat down on a bench, in view of the mermaid display.

And  _ that _ was when she’d started to frown, a slight furrow forming in her brow.

The first show, she was certain she’d just missed the start, and therefore wasn’t accurately estimating how long it lasted. The  _ second _ show, however she was  _ sure _ lasted for fifteen minutes, and she actually got her phone out and timed the third one.

15:26. The woman had spent fifteen minutes fully immersed in water, with maybe four minutes above water after the second show, which had been about the same length, and with only the same break before it.

Asami felt like she was losing her mind.  _ Was _ she losing her mind? No, it wasn’t  _ that _ hot, and she could still divide triple-digit numbers in her head, accurately ( _ yes _ , she checked on her phone afterwards, she wasn’t just assuming). Was there some part of the costume, a headpiece, that had a hidden oxygen supply? No, the woman had a short bob haircut that spread out dramatically when she was underwater, and sprayed the crowd with a dramatic but small amount of water when she surfaced at the end of the show. Her face was free of obstructions, and she regularly opened her mouth under the water, ‘Oooh-ing’ and ‘Aaaah-ing’ at her various treasures as she showed them off.

“Wow, still watching the mermaid, huh?” Opal’s elbow rudely interrupted Asami’s thoughts. Before she could come up with an explanation, Opal continued. “That’s Korra, Bolin and I met her last summer. She’s super great, she actually goes to RCU with us, I had that history class with her. You should go ask if she’s single!”

Asami rolled her eyes, groaning audibly as she hid her face in her hands. Opal had been  _ incredibly _ persistent in insisting that Asami “get back out there” after ending things with Mako, such as they were.

“I should’ve just lied and told you I was dating some rich business major from MIT.” Asami grumbled. “And what, just walk up and ask ‘hey, you single’? What if she’s  _ not _ ? What if she’s straight, or thinks I’m a creep for  _ being creepy and hitting on her at work _ ?”   
  
Asami’s mind wasn’t focused on her banter with Opal. She was trying to think of  _ any _ way that what she’d seen, three times now, could be possible.  _ Was the water a mixture, some sort of real-life application of that shit from the Abyss? If *that* were true, it’d be the scientific breakthrough of the decade, I would’ve heard about it… _

Opal, meanwhile, rolled her eyes. “She’s got a huuuuge pride sticker on her tank, right there. And she was super nice last summer, and when we studied together for the history final; I’m just saying, you should go talk to her. Look, she’s going on break right now! Go chat!”

Before Asami could muster up another protest, Opal was hauling her upright by her arm and shoving her towards the mermaid tank, whose crowd was dispersing as the mermaid, Korra, flipped the sign next to the tank to read “On Break, Back in Fifteen!”

As Opal dragged her towards the tank, Asami couldn’t help but look more closely at the woman; the  _ surprisingly _ in shape,  _ gorgeous _ woman. Her hair shone in the sunlight, and the way she was leaning over the edge of the tank sent rivulets of water running down her arms, trailing the definition of her biceps and falling off her fingers. Through the tank window, above the (again,  _ very _ detailed) mermaid tail she was wearing, the woman’s abdominal muscles were visible, even as she leaned casually over the edge.

Asami’s mouth suddenly felt very dry. It must have been the hot sun.

“Look, Opal, we really,  _ really _ don’t have to-”

Opal cut Asami off with a bold wave towards the tank and a nearly-shouted “Hi Korra!”. The woman’s eyes, a piercing, icy blue, snapped up to them, and a wide grin broke out on her face.

“Opal! How’s it going?”   
  
Opal pulled Asami up next to her, and pushed her slightly closer. “I’m doing great, I actually need to go find Bolin and his brother, could you keep my friend Asami company while I do that ok thanks byeeee!”

Asami turned and sent her best glare at Opal as the woman walked away, but Opal was busy smiling and waving as she walked speedily back towards the jousting arena. Closing her eyes, and taking a breath, she turned back to face Korra, who was looking at her with an eyebrow raised.

“Here, I’m on break so I’m gonna eat my lunch, come around to the back of the tank.” Korra swam over to the opposite side of the tank, and hopped up on a ledge there; as Asami walked around to meet her, she saw that under the ledge was a small cubby area, with some bottles of water, and Korra’s lunch, which she was pulling out of a heat-insulated lunch-box.

The woman was eating sushi. Nothing weird about that.

Asami thought about bringing up Republic City University, or college in general, or maybe how Korra started working at a Ren Faire. She considered saying this was her first time at a Ren Faire, or chatting about the music she was enjoying.

Instead of any of that, what came out of her mouth was “Youheldyourbreathforfifteenminuteswhichisimpossible.”

Korra raised an eyebrow, continuing to eat. “You, uh, wanna try that again? Asami, right?”

Asami blushed;  _ god _ , she hadn’t even introduced herself properly. “Hi, yes, sorry, I’m Asami, I know Opal from Republic City University, where you apparently also go, I didn’t… I  _ don’t _ mean to be rude, but…” She trailed off. What was she going to say here? ‘ _ You’re violating the laws of human anatomy and physiology and I’m equal parts confused and curious as to how? _ ’

Korra’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “Yeah, I remember her mentioning you a couple of times; you dated Bolin’s brother for a hot second or something? The one with the wild eyebrows?”

“We  _ barely _ dated and it’s over now, and  _ yes _ I agree his eyebrows look stupid.” Asami grumbled. “God, does Opal just tell  _ everyone _ about my dating life?”

Korra shrugged. “I mean, our history professor was pretty awful, we had a  _ ton _ of time to chat in that class.” She took a swig of water, and Asami did  _ not _ watch her throat bob as she gulped it down. “So, you enjoy the show?”

Asami blushed a darker red. “I’m, uh… what?”

Korra gestured behind her at the front of the tank. “The whole mermaid bit. I saw you watching that last one before my break. You enjoy it?”

This was it; Asami wasn’t going to get a better opening than this to bring it up.

“...You held your breath for fifteen minutes.”

Korra  _ almost _ looked unperturbed,  _ almost _ pulled off a casual surprise. But there was a moment when her hand froze in its motion of bringing food to her mouth, a moment when her eyes widened. “Did I? That’s a new record, even for me.”

Asami shook her head. “No. You held your breath for fifteen minutes  _ three shows in a row _ , with only a few minutes between each. The  _ world record _ for women is currently a little over nine minutes, and it’s only three minutes longer for men. The only way to hold your breath longer is by prepping with like thirty minutes of breathing pure oxygen, which you aren’t doing,  _ plus _ you aren’t just floating stationary, you’re doing your whole show. So what gives?”

Korra was frowning down at Asami now. “I’m, uh, on beta blockers?” Asami continued to look at Korra, merely raising a single eyebrow to convey how unbelievable  _ that _ was.

Korra shifted slightly, seemingly uncomfortable with the silence, and Asami’s stare. Her tail moved as she did so; specifically, one half of the fin at the end moved, and drew Asami’s eye. Up close, the outfit was even more gorgeous than under the water; the scales had an iridescent sheen to them, and were shaded different colors in stripes down Korra’s legs…   
  
Except, this close up, it didn’t really  _ look _ like there was enough room in the tail for two adult legs. There was no bump where Korra’s knees would be, no awkward bulge where her feet would have to reside. And half of her fin kept twitching; how would she  _ just _ be moving  _ half _ of that part of the outfit?

Korra cleared her throat, rubbing one hand behind her head. “Look, maybe you lost track of time, it’s really hot out, I doubt you’ve been drinking enough water…”

Asami reached out and touched the fin at the end of the tail; it  _ moved _ in response, and Korra gasped in surprise. Asami’s green eyes flew up to meet blue ones, wide with fear.

“No fucking way,” Asami breathed. “No  _ fucking _ way, this is impossible…”

Korra glanced around them. “Look, could you  _ please _ keep your voice down,”

“Keep my  _ voice down? _ Korra, either you’re wearing the greatest costume I’ve ever seen  _ and _ you’ve obliterated a world record that’s been standing since 2013, or  _ you’re actually a mermaid? _ ”

Korra dropped her head into her hands, moaning audibly. “God, my mom is gonna  _ kill _ me.”

“ _ Not an answer Korra. _ ” Asami was trying to stay calm, but now she was looking at the gills on Korra’s neck; they were small, and seemed almost like an after-thought, a late addition to the ‘costume’, but this close, with Korra distressed, Asami could  _ swear _ she was seeing them  _ move _ .

Korra raised her head, and let out a large sigh. “Okay. You’re Opal’s friend, and she’s a good person, so hopefully you are too. Please, please,  _ please _ don’t tell  _ anyone _ about this, but  _ yes  _ \- I’m a mermaid.”

Asami had expected this knowledge to help her calm down, to slow her mind, but if anything her confusion only  _ increased _ . “Wait, Opal met you here last year but then had a class with you; you go to RCU? So can you, what,  _ transform _ and just have legs? Can you  _ actually _ breathe underwater or do you need to surface after a certain amount of time? Are you cold blooded? Do you lay eggs- Ok  _ that _ was definitely rude to ask, but most fish do and your tail looks more like a fish tail than like a dolphin tail. You mentioned your mom, so there are  _ more _ mermaids out there? Where do they live? How has no one-”

Korra’s hand was warm against Asami’s face as she covered Asami’s mouth; it was also soft, and smooth. Asami tried, and failed, to think about how this was the most intimate contact she’d had with a woman in years, and with another person at all in months.

“Wow that is a _lot_ of questions.” Korra, luckily, looked more entertained than dismayed by Asami’s enthusiasm. “Look, I’m off work tomorrow; come meet me at that noodle place right next to campus, at noon, we can actually have a conversation then, but my break’s over and I gotta perform more, ok? Ok great.” She removed her hand from Asami’s mouth, patted her on the cheek twice, and fell backwards into the water of the tank with barely a splash.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Sooooooo, how’d it go?”

Asami rolled her eyes, but kept her attention on Korra. The woman had inserted moments into her show where she broke the surface, and visibly took a breath; each time she did so, she glanced over at Asami and grinned slightly.

Opal nudged her in the side. “It looks like it went well, she keeps smirking at you.”

Asami pushed Opal away. “She’s not smirking, it’s not like that. We’re just-” She cut herself off, realizing what had actually happened. With a slight blush, Asami continued. “We’re getting lunch tomorrow but it’s  _ just a friend thing I swear! _ ”   
  
Opal’s laughter caused some heads to turn, but she at least stopped teasing Asami for the rest of the day.


	7. Lips

The first time they kissed was after a game night.   
  
Asami usually drove Korra home; scratch that, Asami usually drove Korra  _ everywhere _ . In retrospect, her crush on Korra was fairly obvious, but, at the time, to Korra, she was just a very kind, good friend. She had a nice car, and often seemed to be driving by where Korra would be walking to or from, and so  _ really _ it just made sense for them to carpool.

She’d tried to give Asami some gas money, once, and the taller girl had laughed in her face, and then declined, citing trust funds, investment revenue streams, and money produced off of a few patents she already had. Korra had hidden a twenty dollar bill in the cup holder, all the same, and a week later she had found a hundred dollar bill in her backpack. Upon confronting Asami, she had said “Oh, sorry, I thought we were just leaving money in places for the other person. Is that not what we were doing?” which had then led back around to the original conversation regarding gas money. Eventually Asami had told Korra that if she kept attempting to pay for gas, Asami would keep on hiding hundred dollar bills in Korra’s belongings. She also brought up the fact that the car was electric.

Korra considered bringing up energy costs for charging an electric car, but decided against it.

The game night in question hadn’t been particularly noteworthy; Opal, Bolin, Mako, whoever Mako was dating (currently a nice boy named Wu), Korra, and Asami tried to get together every week for a game night. Between exams, jobs, and just collegiate life in general, holding to that schedule was tricky, but their record for longest time between game nights was only three weeks; they were dedicated to spending time as a group.

Bolin and Mako’s collection of board games was borderline frightening in its scope, and so they were spoiled for choice whenever they got together. It was a great way to spend a Friday night.

The game night in question hadn’t been particularly noteworthy, that is, except for it being Wu’s first. This, in and of itself, wasn’t noteworthy to the rest of the group; Mako was something of a serial dater, and had brought many partners to many game nights. Some had gotten along with the group well, some had clashed almost immediately and walked out early, but Wu had fit in well, with almost no awkward moments.

Almost, of course, wasn’t the same as zero; after chatting with Korra and Asami while Bolin set up a board game, he had asked them how long they had been dating.

Asami had chuckled. “Psh, I should  _ be _ so lucky.” Korra had rolled her eyes and elbowed Asami, prompting the other to break out into giggles.

Wu had frowned slightly, but let the matter drop. This was fairly normal for Korra and Asami; they’d gotten the third degree from their various friends  _ long _ ago, and were used to people reading more into their relationship than was there.

Korra had lingered in Asami’s car, after the game night, outside of her apartment. Asami frowned, tilting her head slightly. “You ok? Naga’s waiting for you.”

Korra shook her head in a vague, circle shape. “No, yeah, I’m good.” She hadn’t however, moved to get out of the car.

Asami shifted gears into ‘park’, and turned slightly in her seat to face the other girl.

Korra rolled her eyes, blushing slightly. “ _ Really _ , it’s… It’s nothing.”

Asami stayed quiet, patiently waiting.  _ Clearly _ something was on Korra’s mind, and  _ clearly _ she was going to talk about it before leaving the car, or she would’ve left already. Korra was easy to understand like that; she was decisive, confident, quick to action. It was one of many things Asami liked about her.

Korra sighed, finally meeting Asami’s eyes. “You ever think about it? What Wu said.”

Asami tilted her head slightly further, a small frown appearing on her face, a furrow in her brow. “Think about what?”

“Us. Dating.”

Outwardly, Asami’s expression grew thoughtful. A hand raised to her lips, tapping softly, as she stared into Korra’s blue eyes.

Outwardly, she was calm; on the inside, she was desperately trying not to panic.

Asami had, of course, thought about the two of them dating. She thought about it during most of her free time; between classes when she texted Korra, in the evenings when they live-texted episodes of whatever tv show they were enjoying together, in the mornings when Korra would text her ‘good morning’ as she walked Naga. Asami thought about it quite a bit.

“I mean, yeah, I guess I’ve thought about it. We spend a bunch of our time together…” Asami was trying to keep her voice calm and level, to not betray how anxious she was feeling.

Korra hummed in response, her eyes still staring into Asami’s. When she spoke again, Asami almost jumped; it felt as though her senses had been turned up to eleven, and she was hyper aware of everything. All the noises around the car, the sounds of her and Korra’s breathing, the feel of her hair on her shoulders, the seat at her back, her seatbelt across her body.

“Did you mean what you said?” Korra’s voice, somewhat soft, was still jarring when it broke the silence in the car.

Asami shifted in her seat, still facing Korra. “Hmm? I mean, yeah, I  _ have _ thought about it, we do spend-” She was cut off when Korra reached over and grabbed her arm, gently, near her elbow. Korra shook her head.

“No, not just now, I believe you, you think through everything. I meant to Wu.”

Asami blinked, thinking back to the brief conversation that had occurred before the board games had begun. When she remembered what she’d said, she felt a blush spread across her cheeks.

“ _ Oh _ . I mean, umm, yes? You’re my best friend, and you’re kind, and caring, and funny, and fun to be around, and you’re smart but not in the way everyone in engineering is smart, which is  _ good _ because it means you have social skills, and you’re  _ incredibly _ in shape, and I-”

Asami’s rambling was, blessedly, cut off by Korra’s lips pressing against hers. Kissing Korra felt like drinking a cool glass of water on a hot day, like standing outside during a torrential downpour, like the first breath of air after swimming underwater. Asami’s hand had made its way up to Korra’s neck by the time the shorter woman pulled away.   
  
“...I’m sorry, I should have asked, this isn’t how-”

Asami cut her off by surging forward and pressing their lips together again, eliciting a squeak of surprise from Korra before she melted back into the kiss.

Eventually, they pulled apart again, but it was for breathing purposes. As they sat, foreheads touching, faces inches apart, Korra’s face broke into a crooked grin.   
  
“So, do you wanna, like, go on a date sometime?”

Asami answered by leaning forward and kissing her again.


	8. Yellow

Asami knocked on her girlfriend’s door, clutching the folder tightly to her chest.

Rationally, there was no need to be nervous; they’d been dating for almost nine months, Korra trusted her, she’d done her research…   
  
This would go well.

Her knock was immediately answered by the sound of paws skittering against the wood floors of Korra’s apartment, and a bark that was quickly cut off by Korra’s voice yelling “Naga,  _ no _ !”

The door opened to reveal Korra, grinning out at Asami, and trying to position her body to prevent Naga from escaping out the door.

“Hi.” Korra’s face was split in a broad grin, her eyes twinkling. Asami couldn’t help but grin back.

“Hi. Can I come in?”

Korra nodded, and Asami slid carefully past her, trying to not open the door enough for Naga to run into the hallway. When she made it fully into the apartment, she finally greeted the large dog. “Hi sweetie, how are you doing?”

Korra closed the door behind her, and stepped back into her kitchen. “I’m almost done with dinner, make yourself comfortable, as always.”

Asami slipped off her shoes at the door, and stepped over the back of the couch to sit down, placing the folder on the coffee table. Korra’s apartment was… well, ‘cramped’ didn’t even really  _ begin _ to describe it. If Korra  _ didn’t _ have a nearly 100 pound dog, and the dog bed and dog crate that went along with dog ownership, her apartment would be  _ close _ to merely ‘cramped’. If she got rid of some of her furniture, all of which was  _ surprisingly _ comfortable, and she loved, then her apartment would have more room.

But, it was near public transit, and allowed pets, and the rent was within Korra’s budget, so she lived here. Asami glanced into the kitchen; Korra had her rice cooker plugged in and set on the floor, and both burners of her small stove occupied with a pot and a pan. The small counter space was occupied by two bowls, set up to have food served into them, and some various accoutrements from the cooking process.

Asami glanced towards the folder on the table in front of her. This was a good idea. It would go well. She should relax.

Naga collapsed next to her, having clambered over the back of the couch, and draped her head in Asami’s lap. Asami started scratching her behind her ears, whispering sweet nothings as she did so. As Korra started serving rice, chicken, veggies, and sauce into the two bowls, Asami started playing some soft music on her phone. Korra had no problem doing things with a background of silence, but it drove Asami up the wall. Especially when she was already anxious, it gave her brain too much space to think about things beside what she was doing.

After a time, Korra made it over to the couch, bowls and chopsticks in hand. She casually stepped over the back of the couch, and collapsed down into a sitting position beside Asami, handing over half of the food she’d brought with a brief kiss on Asami’s cheek. “Thanks for coming over, I missed you.”

Asami’s exasperated eye roll was lessened in severity by her light blush, and fond grin. “We saw each other  _ earlier today _ , Korra.”

Korra gave her an eye roll back, but any response was prevented by a mouth full of food.

Before Asami was ready (although, in reality, it’s hard to say when she would have been ready to bring it up on her own), Korra had finished eating, and in setting her bowl on the coffee table, had picked up the folder.   
  
“So what’s this?”

Asami finished chewing and swallowed the food still in her mouth quickly, but not quickly enough to prevent Korra from opening and beginning to flip through the folder.

“I just- your apartment is so cramped, and I know that you like it but I think that’s just because your stuff and Naga are here, and I know that you don’t like searching for a place to live, but your lease is ending soon, and so instead of renewing it-”

Asami’s babbling was, blessedly, cut off by Korra. “Wait, did you do all this to help me find a better place to live?”

Asami rocked her head from side to side. From a certain perspective that was true… “Yeah…”

Korra leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “ _ ‘Sami _ , you didn’t have to do that!” She went back to flipping through the folder, and paused at a color-rich page. “Asami, is this  _ color-coded? _ ”

Asami flushed again. “Look, there’s a lot of information to convey, and it seemed the easiest way to categorize different locations based on their positives and negatives. For each place I recorded their price, distance from public transit, closest grocery stores and dog parks, distance from your friends…”

Asami had seen this going differently. She had planned on reading everything out  _ to _ Korra, who, in her imagination, had sat quietly and listened as she went over everything. It was still going well, but-

“Wait, so that’s what yellow and green mean, but how do blue and orange fit in? Like, this has info on… proximity to Future Industries? Wait, these places are all  _ way _ too expensive for me Asami, like twice as much as I’m paying right now.”

Korra began to flip through more pages, but Asami reached over and grabbed her hand. Blue eyes met green.

Asami swallowed, face pale. Korra tilted her head, looking puzzled. “Asami? What’s going on, I can hear you thinking. Talk to me.”

Asami bit her lip, and spoke. “I just- Your lease is ending soon, and so I thought you could find a new place to live, but  _ then _ I started thinking about how much time we spend together, how many nights I end up sleeping here, or you sleep at my place, and I just thought… What if  _ we _ found a spot that worked for  _ us _ ? And I know you wouldn’t want me to be just paying the rent on some expensive place, even though I would, in a heartbeat, but so I looked for spots where you could afford half of the rent, and there are honestly a bunch of spots that have  _ way _ more room than this apartment, and Naga would love that, and there’d be room for you to do yoga instead of always doing it in the park, and-”   
  
Korra, blessedly, cut off her rambling with a kiss, pressed gently to her lips. “Asami, are you asking me if I want to move in with you?”

Asami bit her lip again, and nodded.

  
“I would  _ love _ that.”


	9. Shame

When the end came, it wasn’t pretty.

It also wasn’t, or at least _shouldn’t have been_ a surprise.

They’re both just college students, Asami had said, as they drank together at a coffee shop on a Saturday morning. They should be focusing on their studies, and thinking about their futures, not each other.

That had been Korra’s first hint that this _wasn’t_ a typical hangover coffee date.

They’d been… seeing each other, one could say, for maybe three months. They shared no classes, Asami’s too far ahead of the curve for that, and their friend pool doesn’t really overlap either. Asami’s friend pool is too shallow for any real overlap.

But they’d met at a party, some sorority ridiculousness, and bonded over judging the awful dancing of the people there. Their companionable drinking had turned into a drinking competition, and they’d ended the evening early in the morning, collapsed on top of each other on a couch. Asami had been mortified when she’d woken up, but Korra had calmed her down, and they’d gone out for breakfast to solve their mind-numbing hangovers.

The next weekend had found them both, again, at the same party; this time one thrown by the intramural Ultimate Frisbee team. Korra’s still not sure why Asami ended up there, but she wasn’t complaining; the energy that had formed between them a week ago was still there, crackling in the air between flirty comments and casual touches.

They’d left _that_ party before drinking enough to impair judgement. Korra had pressed Asami to the wall outside the apartment, kissed her for the first time. She tasted like strawberries, like a sunset, like a fast car. They’d ended that night at Asami’s apartment, a total of nine orgasms between them.

And after that, it’d been almost a regular thing. After two days, Korra would inevitably text Asami some dumb joke, or a cute animal picture, or a meme about engineers that was entirely too accurate. Asami would text back, and either that night or the next they would end up together, limbs tangled in a frantic rush of touching, of feeling. It was wonderful.

After a month of hooking up, Korra had made the first step outside of their established routine, and invited Asami to a party she was hosting. Asami had agreed to come, ready to flirt and drink and leave early, but…  
  
But it had been a smaller party than that. Korra and Asami were only joined by Bolin, Mako, Opal, and Kuvira. The night featured less loud music and more casual conversation, less pub snacks and more mother’s recipes in the array of food present. The party ended with a showing of the first Jurassic Park, and Korra and Asami seated next to each other on the couch, Asami pulled close under Korra’s arm.

Their after party ritual had continued, with Asami staying at Korra’s as her friends filed out into the late-night air, but they had kissed with less frenzied intensity, their touches languid as opposed to hurried.

Asami had woken up the next morning, encircled by Korra’s sleeping arms, and known that this would not last.  
  
Not for her.

But Asami also knew that she was weak, and selfish, and so she had continued to spend time texting Korra, and even calling, one night when she had been stressed out in anticipation of an exam (really Korra had called her after her responses to Korra’s texts had been extra-terse, even for her). And while they’d continued to spend late nights together, they’d started to grow into something more; Asami somehow got Opal _and_ Bolin’s numbers put in her phone, and they would both text her during her extra busy days. Her party attendance switched from the popular big parties to more intimate ‘friendly’ affairs.

Her time spent with Korra expanded to include dinners, and then lunches, and then even casual running errands together.

They’d held hands while shopping for a replacement laundry basket after Korra had broken hers, strolling up and down the aisles without a care in the world.

And then, after three months of living in this imagined life, Hiroshi had called her.  
  
It had been a short conversation; he had asked about her grades, and she had replied honestly that she had straight As. He had asked about her dissertation, and she had replied that, as a Junior, she didn’t necessarily _need_ to start working on it yet, but she had some ideas for what she wanted to write on.

And he had asked about Korra. Asked about her by name, inquired after her dog Naga by name, wondered aloud whether she was really cut out to be a physical therapist, a “girl like that”.

Asami had known, really, when the phone had rung, but hearing her father speak so casually about this part of her life she’d tried _so hard_ to keep to herself had confirmed it.

“End it, Asami.” He’d said. “She’s a distraction, one that you can’t afford from your studies. If you desire… companionship, there are many appropriate suitors I would be happy to introduce you to. Many fine young men who would love to spend time with you.”

She’d thought about trying to talk again about her sexual identity, about being bisexual; she’d briefly considered telling him to stop interfering with her life.

“You are a public figure, Asami, and your actions reflect on the company. Don’t forget that.”

He’d ended the call on that uplifting note, and she’d sat on her bed, in her empty penthouse apartment, and cried.

The next night had been another friday-night party, a celebration for the end of the semester, and she’d spent it glued to Korra’s side. If her touches were more lingering, if her gaze more somber, Korra hadn’t noticed. If their sex that night had been softer, more delicate, than before, Korra hadn’t minded.

And then the next morning, at a coffee shop, Asami had ended it.

Korra had fought; they were just college students, but there was something _more_ between them, and she knew Asami felt it.

Asami hadn’t responded to that comment, had just replied by saying it was never _that_ serious.

Korra had asked if Asami had ever had _anyone else_ inside her pristine apartment, if Asami ever even spent _time_ with anyone besides her.

Asami had looked at the table, hands clenched around her coffee, and asked Korra to not make this harder than it needed to be.

Korra had stared at her, tears welling in her eyes. Waited for something else, some real _reason_ why Asami was doing this, some actual explanation. But Asami had nothing to say.

Eventually, Korra stood up, jerkily, and walked quickly out of the coffee shop. Asami had sat at the table for another thirty minutes before leaving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaugh so sad! Don't worry, they reconcile senior year after Hiroshi gets arrested for fraud and Asami becomes the youngest CEO in the Fortune 500, and their story has a happy ending.
> 
> I wanted to write something more about Asami being ashamed of her sexual identity, which would've tied into the prompt, but this is what I ended up writing, so... here we are. Isn't it a "shame" things happened like this between them, there, now it fits the prompt. Also wanted to try writing some more heavy Angst w/o a happy ending, which was a nice stretch of my writing muscles.


	10. Daisy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 of the community garden AU I'm doing! Chapter 1 was 'Buttercup' if you missed/skipped it

“She’s just planting flowers, Opal, and not even like  _ fancy _ flowers, just like buttercups and daisies, and , like, those are pretty,  _ sure _ , but-”

“Hold on, I  _ know _ you aren’t judging what someone is doing with  _ their _ area of a  _ community _ garden. Right? Because that would be a  _ super bitchy _ thing to do,  _ right Asami _ ?”

Asami sighed into the phone, held against her ear. She was lounging in her living room, somewhat awkwardly on her couch, craning her neck slightly to look out her window at the garden plot she was sharing with… Korra, that was her name. And she was out there now, seemingly still planting; it was almost six PM now, the shadows cast by Republic City’s skyscrapers growing long in the evening light. Asami had finished her planting after about two hours of focused work; Korra had been planting things, in her haphazard way, for coming up on five hours.   
  
To be fair, that also included the time spent staring at her plot frowning, and going wherever she went to get the seeds she was planting.   
  
Asami just wished she would’ve gotten some markers, or a trowel to make planting in rows easier. Just  _ some _ effort into making the garden look orderly would’ve been appreciated.

“Ok  _ maybe _ I’m judging her on her plant choice. A  _ bit _ . But also she’s just- Opal she’s just tossing the seeds down onto the dirt; half are going to be eaten up by pigeons before lunchtime tomorrow!”   
  
“ _ Please _ tell me you didn’t actually include all the markers present on your mock-up.”

Asami blushed, and rolled her eyes. Outside, down the street, Korra was back to studying the garden plot. It was hard to tell from here, but it almost looked like she was looking at what Asami had planted.

“Ok without the markers how would I know what was planted where  _ Opal _ ? And  _ plus _ , the markers make it look organized and neat.”

Opal groaned over the phone. “Ok so she knows that you’re a bit uptight, but did you at least not make fun of her planting technique to her face?”

“Of course not Opal, I’m not  _ that _ awful. And no, I didn’t comment on it. She said that my plot looked nice and organized though.”

As soon as she’d said it she knew she’d made a mistake. She could practically see Opal sitting forward in her chair as the other woman said “Oh, so you  _ did _ talk to her though?”

Korra was definitely looking at her markers now, reading Asami’s neat handwriting. That was fine, it was a public garden, after all.

“Yes, Opal, we chatted.  _ Very _ briefly. She seems nice, I don’t know, I doubt we’ll talk again.”

While Opal spent a great deal of her time pestering Asami to sleep more, or eat healthier (or more often), her favorite thing to bother Asami about was her dating life, or, more accurately, lack thereof.

Down the street, Korra was apparently feeling the heat, as she lifted up the bottom of her shirt to wipe sweat from her forehead. She was far away, and in public, and Asami  _ still _ felt like a creep staring at the woman as she did so. She slouched down on her couch, losing her eyeline of the other woman and their shared gardening plot.

“I”m just saying Asami, it sounds like you talked more to her than anyone you’ve mentioned to me in the last four years. You  _ sure _ you aren’t going to talk again?  _ No _ interest on either of your ends?”

Asami thought, then, about Korra’s piercing blue eyes. About the way she’d recognized Asami after learning her name, but still treated her like another gardener in the community. About the toned muscles of her arms, the smooth sweep of her neck into her shoulders…

“Opal we barely exchanged ten words between us.”

“What, and that’s not enough to spark  _ something _ ? I’m just wondering!”

“Opal…”

There was a beat of silence over the phone, before Opal continued.   
  
“I just worry about you girl. You know this. You work too hard for the company. You deserve the finer things in life, and finding someone cute to spend time with is definitely a fine thing.”

The conversation wrapped up soon after, and Asami was left alone, on her couch, pondering Opal’s words. It had been… Well, not exactly a dry spell, because that implied that things had been different before it started. Asami had never been much of a serious dater, too focused on her studies in college, and then right as college ended things with her father had blown up, pun not intended, and…

Her social life just hadn’t been a priority. There was always more work to be done, why go out to the club when she could be productive instead?

Eventually, when the sun had fully set, Asami got up from the couch and started preparing dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this one's kinda a bummer too, two days in a row, sorry! But I promise this multi-chapter ridiculousness will have a happy ending I actually *write*, so don't sweat that.


	11. Flare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW - A dude is an asshole and grabs Asami's arm, nothing worse than that happens and he sucks big time but heads up I guess

“Hey there.”

It wasn’t until the man had repeated himself that Asami realized he was talking to her. Eyebrows raised, she turned her head from the bar to face him.

He looked…  _ fine _ , with a pretty nice outfit and a solid haircut. The way he was leaning on the bar with one arm was a  _ bit _ ridiculous, but if picking up strangers at a bar isn’t a time for a bit of ridiculousness, what was?

Despite herself, Asami’s manners, drilled into her throughout her upbringing, took over. “...Hi.” Maybe if she was even more taciturn that usual he would just get the hint.

“What’re you drinking?”

So far, that plan didn’t seem to be working. And  _ now _ she’d already started talking with him, so ignoring him  _ also _ wasn’t going to work.

“Whiskey, on the rocks. Look-”

Asami was cut off before she could continue. “A strong choice! A bold drink... for a bold woman.” This line was accompanied by a fleeting once-over of her, and a quirk of one eyebrow. Asami fought to keep from groaning. Did this actually work on anyone? “So what’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?”

At that, Asami  _ did _ groan, but managed to resist rolling her eyes. “This is a great bar, I’m not sure what- Look, that’s not even the point, I’m not-”

_ Again _ she was interrupted. “I just mean, you look like a million bucks, and this place is pretty cheap. Not the sort of place to just come and drink alone.”

Asami frowned. “I’m  _ not _ here alone, that’s what I’m saying; I’m here with my girlfriend, I’m not interested, I’d say I’m flattered but your pick-up lines are straight from a bad movie, so let’s just wrap this interaction up, hmm?” She turned back to her drink, and took a sip.

She felt more than saw the man lean closer to her. “Oh,  _ I _ get it. You’re one of those chicks who likes to play hard to get. Well look, sweetheart, you don’t know what you’re missing; I could rock your  _ world _ .”

Asami scoffed, and sipped her drink. “God, unimaginative, arrogant,  _ and _ a bad listener, no wonder you’re single.”

The man grabbed her arm, and Asami’s glass fell the short distance from her hand to the bar with a clattering noise. He leaned in even closer, close enough that she could smell his cologne, or aftershave, whichever he was wearing.

“Look, hun, I  _ promise _ I can give you a night you’ll never forget, all I’m asking for is a little politeness, huh?”

Asami pulled her arm away, or at least tried to, but she was unable to break the man’s grip on her elbow. “Let  _ go _ of me.”

“You just haven’t had the right  _ dick _ yet, trust me, I can-”

Blessedly, the man’s voice was cut off when Korra’s arm wrapped around his neck and dragged him down into a headlock. Eyes fiery, nostrils flaring, she somehow managed to keep her voice level as she bent over nearer the man’s ear.

“It seemed like you were bordering on assaulting my girlfriend, so I’m going to ask you nicely,  _ once _ , to _ get the fuck out of here _ .”

Korra released the man from her hold, and he staggered away from the bar, trying to regain his balance. Korra’s attention, meanwhile, was turned to Asami.

“Fuck ‘Sami, are you ok? How’s your arm?”

“Korra, my arm’s fine.” Asami was mostly telling the truth, it was a little sore but that was probably just recency bias, it would  _ maybe _ bruise, she was fine.

“Hey bitch, I should fuckin’ sue you for attacking me-”

Korra whirled away from Asami and stood face to face again with the worm of a man, whose face was still flushed as he tried to assert some sort of dominance or masculinity.

“I asked you once nicely, I’ll say it less nice now; get the fuck out of this bar before I make you leave. I know all the staff, bouncers included, on a first name basis, and I  _ also _ know that this place has cameras aimed at the bar which captured you grabbing her arm and holding on as she tried to pull away; this is  _ not _ an encounter you are going to ‘win’, or come out ‘on top’ of. Walk away now, and I  _ won’t _ press charges; keep getting in our face and we escalate to police. I know the bar has your info from your tab, we can escalate this as much as you want.”

The man blinked at Korra, standing furiously inches away from his face, fists clenched at her sides. Korra raised her eyebrows, waiting.

After a moment more, the man took a brief step back, and then walked to the far end of the bar, where he began closing his tab. Korra watched him like a hawk until he left the building.

Behind the bar, Kuvira appeared. “Hey, sorry y’all, everything ok now?” When Asami nodded, Kuvira continued, “I didn’t notice something was happening until Korra stepped in, and it looked like she had it under control. Drinks are on us for the night, and Korra, if I’ve said it once I’ll say it a hundred times, you ever want a job just say the word.”

The two women thanked Kuvira, and finished another round of drinks before going home; it was  _ their _ bar, they  _ weren’t _ being chased off, but the mood and energy of the night were unsalvageable, at least while out of the house.


	12. Green

“Ugh, Opal, she’s just out to dinner with a friend from boarding school, and I  _ know _ it’s just catching up  _ slash _ some dry awful business talk, but I just…”

“Your fiance's out at dinner with another woman, and so you wanted to talk to someone about it?”

Korra flopped down onto the couch, phone held to her ear. Naga was already laying down next to the couch; the only indicator she noticed Korra sitting down was some thumping of her tail against the floor.

“I mean, when you put it that way, it sounds stupid…”

Opal let out a long sigh. “Listen, Korra. How long have you guys been together?”

Korra rolled her eyes. “Look, Opal, I-”

“ _ How long _ have you been together?”

“Four years.” Korra muttered.

“And how long have you been engaged?”

“Coming up on a year, you  _ know  _ this Opal, but-”

“But  _ what? _ Asami’s  _ wild _ for you, girl, it’s obvious to anyone who spends time around the two of you for  _ any _ amount of time. Y’all are always touching, and staring at each-other, and just being super cute.”

“But she’s  _ Asami Sato _ , Opal! She’s one of the richest and most powerful women in Republic City, maybe the  _ world _ ! Every month there’s a new story about how Future Industries is revolutionizing public transit, or had a life-saving breakthrough in some medical field, or is funding scholarships for inner city youth, or saved Christmas or something! She’s incredible, and I’m  _ what _ , a physical therapist? An above-average ultimate frisbee player?”

The sound of her front door  _ closing  _ made Korra jolt upright on the couch. Asami was standing just inside their front door, staring over at Korra, head tilted to one side, frowning slightly.

“I, uh, I gotta go Opal.” Korra hung up before waiting to hear her friend’s reply.

The two women remained in their positions, unmoving, for a moment. Korra, predictably, was the first to break the silence.

She cleared her throat, and asked “So, uh, how did your dinner go?”

Her words seemed to spur Asami into motion. She walked towards the couch, removing her jacket as she did so. “It was fine, Zhu Li’s finally together with her boss, or business partner now I suppose.” She draped her jacket over the back of the couch; Korra knew that was Asami’s favorite jacket, and she’d never seen the other woman  _ not _ hang it up immediately after wearing it. She was about to voice her confusion when Asami sat down on the couch beside her. “What were…” Improbably, Asami looked somewhat uncertain, but pressed forward. “What were you talking with Opal about?”

Korra briefly entertained the idea of saying it had been nothing, just her talking about her day. She flirted with the thought of saying Opal was having troubles with Bolin. Eventually, she settled on the truth.   
  
“...How much of that did you hear?”

Asami’s look, already gentle, softened as she replied. “...I opened the door and heard you say my name, and then… the whole bit after that.”

Korra sighed, and broke eye contact. “I just… Asami you’re… You’re  _ you _ . I was exaggerating, sure, but not  _ much _ ; you’re routinely on like ‘Women Who Inspire Us’ lists, and you legitimately do amazing things year-round. You’re drop-dead gorgeous, unbelievably smart, funny, in your nerdy way…” Korra reached up to scratch the back of her neck. “I just… You went out to dinner with someone from  _ your _ world tonight. And I  _ know _ she’s not gay,  _ or _ single anymore, but… I just worry you’ll realize someday that you deserve better than me.”

Her attention was brought back to Asami when the taller woman reached over and grabbed her hands, caressing her knuckles gently. Her blue eyes drifted up to meet Asami’s green ones, which- were those tears in her eyes? Impossible.

“Korra… how long have you felt like this?”

Korra looked away for a moment, but a squeeze of Asami’s hands brought her focus back.

“I’m not… I mean, since I met you. Asami you are actually  _ awesome _ , in the like ‘worthy of awe’ definition. You’re also just awesome in the normal usage of it, but… I mean, you know that, right? You know how great you are?”

Asami blushed, but maintained her eye contact with Korra. “I’m aware of the positive effect I’ve had on the world, yes. And people do tell me how beautiful I am, although I prefer to hear it from you over anyone else…” She smiled at Korra then, that special self-conscious smile she seemed to save for only their private moments. “But Korra, you’re amazing too.”

Korra again moved her eyes away, and a second, stronger, more insistent hand squeeze brought her attention back. She opened her mouth to disagree, but Asami moved her right hand up to Korra’s mouth, a finger pressed gently against her lips, as she continued talking.

“You’re a physical therapist, yes, but you do it because you’re a  _ great _ physical therapist, and a fantastic believer in people; your words of encouragement are so heartfelt every time you offer them, which is often. You care  _ so much _ about people; your friends, yes, but also strangers or clients you’ve just met. I’ve seen you stay up all night helping Bolin study, or making a schedule that fits a client’s sparse free-time. You are unbelievably kind, almost to a  _ fault _ , and you brighten up any room you’re in with your charm and sense of humor.”

Asami paused, and wiped a tear that had fallen from  _ Korra’s _ eye; when had she started crying?

“And Korra, I know how the world views me; I get hero worship, or something close to it, from almost everyone I interact with. It’s been that way since college. And honestly? I hate it. It’s like wearing a costume everywhere I go; they all treat me like I’m  **_Asami Sato_ ** ,  _ saviour of the world, probably going to solve global warming one of these years _ . Almost everyone, but not  _ you _ .” Asami leaned forward here, and pressed a soft kiss to Korra’s lips. “It’s why I fell in love with you, Korra; you liked me for my nerdy jokes, and personality, not for the company my father started. You never treat me differently because I’m regularly on tabloids, even though that  _ must _ make your life more difficult.”

Korra’s tears were flowing freely, now, and Asami pulled her into a close hug. “I love  _ you _ , Korra; even if there was magically a version of you who was a millionaire and ran a company and had invented a way to turn food waste into clean energy, I wouldn’t want to date  _ her _ ; I want to be with the woman who took me to my first drive-in movie theater, who made me buy us both corn dogs when we went to the state fair, who drags me out to dance in the rain when it’s a torrential downpour outside.  _ That’s _ who I want to kiss, and fall asleep next to, and be with. No one else.”

They stayed seated on the couch, Korra nestled in Asami’s arms, for a span, until it was time to get ready for bed. They brushed their teeth side by side, and Korra fell asleep with Asami curled into her side, leg draped over Korra’s and head resting gently on her chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me - 'Green', so i could like write about Korra being jealous that Asami's out to dinner or something
> 
> Also Me - and by jealous apparently i meant 'insecure and feeling unworthy' gah these two are just so SWEET


	13. Paranormal AU

The sun had just set, and Asami was looking for someone with a surplus of blood.

Not in, like, an  _ evil _ way. She’d been a vampire for long enough to have accrued a fair amount of wealth, and, as with any being on the planet, having wealth meant more leeway in actions she viewed as acceptable. For  _ years _ now she’d been coming to private arrangements with her… clients, one could say.

She’d find a healthy, young adult, who looked like they were fairly open minded, and could use some cash. A casual conversation over a drink, and, if she was lucky, Asami would’ve found a good, easy to access, re-usable source of blood.

It was always stressful finding someone new, though. She’d only had things go sideways once, but they  _ had _ gone sideways rather strongly; she’d last seen the young man sprinting down the street, at 11 PM, screaming at the top of his lungs about how  _ vampires are real _ .

She’d spent the next month locked in her apartment, with only her emergency blood-bag supply for sustenance. Bagged blood worked fine for keeping her alive (or, undead, or whatever), but it was like eating cold fast food versus a five star restaurant.

Since then she’d tried to feel out her potential sources attitudes towards the supernatural, and kink, before being honest with them.

Her last  _ associate _ , a woman named Kuvira, had been a great success. They’d had an arrangement for almost three years, and become something close to friends, or at least something beyond acquaintances. They hadn’t spent much time outside of their  _ sessions _ together, but their sessions had been… pleasant for both of them, and Kuvira had seemed almost sad when she’d told Asami she was moving across the country.

And so here Asami was, tucked into the corner booth of a small bar, on a Tuesday night, whiskey in hand, surveying the patrons for possibilities. Mid-week nights tended to produce more people that fit Asami’s profile; an abundance of free time, a mental looseness around what was or wasn’t appropriate in a ‘society’.

There were only a handful of patrons in the bar, and, of them, it looked like only three were here alone. Asami wrote off the first immediately; the man looked to be in his mid-fifties, and she could smell the cigarette ash that marked him as a chronic smoker from here. That left two options; the first was a young man, a college student most likely, given his biology textbook spread open on the booth table in front of him. He was sipping on a mojito, the mint strong in Asami’s nostrils, even from across the room, and looked to be cramming for a test; if she focused, Asami could faintly hear his heartbeat, strong and steady, but faster than she would’ve guessed. Evidently he was feeling rather stressed.

Maybe if he studied in a library, and not a  _ bar _ , he would have better luck learning the material, and not have to cram last-minute.

The other potential was a woman, and she- Asami quickly glanced away when she noticed that the blue-eyed woman was already looking over in her direction. Asami tried to get a read on the other woman with her other senses, heightened as they were. Searching through the smell of cigarettes, alcohol, and perfume, she thought she zeroed in on the woman’s personal scent; she smelled like sweat, and… like a dog. Probably went running with her pet periodically, was maybe in good shape. That would bode well for a potential match.

The sound of a stool pushing away from the bar, and footsteps, drew Asami back to the present. Glancing up, she saw the woman walking towards her, beer in hand. 

Asami grinned down into her drink. Well, it seemed there was, at the  _ very _ least, some interest there. The woman’s heartbeat sounded strong, another good sign. 

Asami finally met those blue eyes for more than a moment as the other woman slid into the booth opposite her. The woman was grinning, and slightly flushed; given the only slight smell of alcohol on her breath, Asami would guess she was on her second beer.

“...Hi. I’m Korra.”

Asami raised her whiskey in greeting. “I’m Asami. Nice to meet you.”

The other woman, Korra, nodded. “I know.  _ I mean _ , uh, I mean it’s nice to meet you too, and that’s not what- I was pretty sure your name was Asami. Already. It’s why I came over.”

Instantly, Asami was on high alert. Outwardly, her appearance didn’t change, but she did her best to stretch her hearing as far as she could, to smell the tell-tale stench of gun-oil or bullets. But it seemed this bar was as deserted as it seemed, and she didn’t smell any weapons beyond the revolver kept behind the bar, under the register, which had been there every time she’d been to this bar.

And Korra’s heartbeat, while excited, wasn’t quite anxious, unless she was a master of keeping her body calm.

All told - it didn’t seem Asami had walked into a trap laid for her by some vampire hunters, or government agents. So far so good.

(She’d never encountered any hunters, but had heard some horror stories from the few other vampires she’d encountered. And she’d only talked to a government agent once, but that had been  _ years _ ago, and had prompted her to move to a different country,  _ and _ to change her name).

Casually, she raised her eyebrows. “Oh, sorry, have we met?” Asami knew they hadn’t met; she’d had an eidetic memory since eight years of age, and being turned into a vampire hadn’t changed that. But it seemed the friendlier question to ask, instead of ‘who are you and how do you know who I am’.

Korra seemed to be growing more nervous by the second; Asami could hear her heartbeat increasing in speed, and could feel the vibrations of the other woman’s leg jiggling up and down (this may not have been due to any advanced senses Asami possessed). What’s more, she seemed slightly embarrassed; a slight flush was now coloring her cheeks. Or maybe that was just alcohol, perhaps the woman had a low tolerance.

“I, uh… My friend Kuvira told me about you.”

Again Asami took a moment, calming herself while trying to detect anything out of the ordinary in the bar. No high-pitched whine of advanced electronics, no additional cameras in the bar since the last time she was here. The groups of people included a bachelorette party, a couple on a date, and three friends congratulating a fourth on a work promotion. None of them had any weapons on them, or at least not any weapons with the tell-tale scent of metal. No sirens outside, no helicopters overhead.

Asami took a sip of her whiskey. “Seems like I should have impressed my enjoyment of  _ privacy _ more intensely. What did she say about me?”

Korra sat up in the booth seating, crossing one leg over the other. Her flush darkened, slightly, which was hard to notice on her darker skin, but Asami was paying close attention. “I- she said that the two of you had an arrangement, and that you’d be looking for another person since she was moving.” Asami nodded, and Korra continued. “She told me what you looked like, said that you were gorgeous-” here Korra glanced away, and took a gulp of her beer, perhaps to calm her nerves? “She said you were…”

Asami raised an eyebrow. “She said I was…”

“She said you were really kinky.”

Asami blinked, caught off guard in spite of herself. Korra looked back up at her, and her blue eyes were occluded by her dilated pupils. Suddenly the flush on her cheeks and neck, her anxiety, and her jittery leg all made sense.

**_Oh_ ** .

Asami bit back a chuckle, contented herself with a satisfied smirk. “Well, she’s not wrong. We had an… arrangement, of sorts. She enjoyed it, I enjoyed it… And I  _ am _ here tonight looking for a replacement.”

It was all true, technically. Asami  _ was _ kinky, and she kept her BDSM gear easily visible in her penthouse apartment. Kuvira had seen it as soon as she’d come over for the first time, and called her a stereotype.

But their ‘arrangement’ had been almost entirely mercantile in nature; Asami wanted the blood Kuvira had, and Kuvira wanted the money Asami was offering. Asami had offered more; she’d had more sexual feeding arrangements in the past, but Kuvira had declined, citing her own dominant tendencies as the reason. The only thing besides money Kuvira had gotten out of the arrangement was enjoyment of the way the mild poison on Asami’s fangs made her feel; the woman had described the sensation as “a mixture of smoking weed and taking a hot bath”. Every time Kuvira had come over, she’d ended up watching Food Network after their sessions for a solid half hour before leaving.

It had been nice; while Kuvira wasn’t the  _ only  _ visitor to Asami’s apartment, those half-hours had started to feel friendly, in the end. It was nice to just spend time around someone else, even if you had just paid them for some of their blood.

Across the booth from her, Korra shifted in her seat. “What, uh… what sort of arrangement?” The woman seemed slightly breathless as she responded.

Asami’s smirk grew. “Well, I have certain…  _ unusual _ tastes, if you will.” Mentally, Asami high-fived herself for the incredible joke. “It’s hard for me to find partners who are willing to accommodate me, and so I often turn to more...codified arrangements. I find someone who helps  _ me _ out, and I help them out with their bills, allowing them more free time to study instead of work… That sort of thing.”

Korra snorted; it was the cutest thing Asami had seen in a long time. “What, like a sugar baby type of thing?”

Asami shrugged. "That’s not  _ too _ far off. What did Kuvira tell you about  _ her _ arrangement?”

Korra’s blush deepend, spreading down past the neckline of her shirt. “We, uh- I didn’t want any details, that’s not the- I don’t talk about, like” and here the woman honest-to-god looked around the bar before whispering the word “ _ sex _ , with any of my friends, so I didn’t press for any details. But I’ve been looking for someone like you for a while; most people I find who are into BDSM want me to bend them in half or something.”

Asami cocked an eyebrow. “And you’d rather be the one bending, I’m guessing?”

Korra’s blush,impossibly, grew more intense, and she merely nodded, eyes dark with arousal. Asami nodded, still smirking.

“Well, Korra, I would  _ love _ to talk more explicitly with you, but,” and Asami gestured around the bar, “this isn’t exactly the place for that sort of conversation. Would it be terribly forward of me to invite you back to my apartment? I don’t want to rush you, nothing would happen tonight, just some more talking. It’s important to set boundaries, and such.”

Korra’s face fell, slightly, like she’d just heard the weekend forecast had changed from sun to clouds (a positive change, in Asami’s mind). But she recovered quickly, and nodded energetically, draining her beer. Asami finished her own whiskey. “Let me close out my tab, and I’ll walk you to my car.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The conversation during the car ride had, inexplicably, turned into Korra mocking Asami for her musical tastes.

To be entirely fair, Asami  _ had _ landed on the classic music station of Republic City, but her favorite orchestral work had been starting (‘Scheherezade’), and so she’d wanted to listen.

She still remembered seeing it premiere, over one hundred years ago.

Her thoughts had been dragged out of the past with Korra’s questions (‘Who even  _ listens _ to classical music?’ ‘What song is this, anyways?’ ‘What do you mean it tells a story?’), and she’d been so caught up in talking about the compositional techniques used in the piece that there hadn’t been room for any other conversation until they’d entered Asami’s apartment.

Asami frowned to herself, slightly, as she got Korra a glass of water. She preferred to tell people the truth about herself  _ before _ they reached her apartment; they were now firmly  _ not _ in ‘neutral territory’, and any discomfort would probably be amplified by that fact.

Oh well; too late now.

She slid the glass of water across her kitchen counter to Korra, who was still gawking at her apartment; floor to ceiling windows (UV treated,  _ obviously _ ), a gigantic TV, four large bookshelves, a luxurious couch, a wall of supple leather whips, cuffs, and other BDSM accoutrements…

Suffice to say, Asami enjoyed the luxuries of life.

“So, Korra…” The other woman’s eyes snapped back to hers, brilliantly blue and expectant. It was time. “I’m afraid I haven’t been entirely honest with you.”

Korra cocked her head to one side, brows furrowed. “What do you mean.”

Asami sighed, getting a glass of water for herself. There really just  _ wasn’t _ a good way to do this, no natural, smooth way of bringing it up casually in conversation. She’d tried dozens of times, dozens of different ways, and the best solution she’d found was to be blunt and forthcoming.

Still, she was also trying to be non-threatening; she turned her back on Korra to fill the glass up in the sink, and turned her head slightly over her shoulder. “...I’m a vampire, and I’m looking for a new source of blood.”

Silence, from Korra, as she finished filling her cup. Asami turned off the faucet and turned around, leaning back against the sink, giving Korra as much room as possible, trying to appear the least threatening she could.

Korra was staring at her (predictably), squinting, and looking like Asami was losing her mind.

Asami rolled her eyes, and gestured behind Korra. “Here, look at the tv. In the reflection.”

Korra’s face grew even more skeptical, but she turned and peered into the darkened television screen. Asami heard a gasp as she took a drink of water; in the reflection, a floating glass of water was raised up, tilted, and some of the water in it vanished. Korra spun back around, eyes wild.

“ _ No fucking way. _ ”

Asami stayed where she was, kept her voice soothing and low as she spoke. “I completely understand if this is too much for you, it’s not exactly an every-day thing. The front door is still unlocked, you are free to go if you wish.”

Korra didn’t move. Asami carefully, and slowly, took another drink of water. When the other woman remained still, and silent, Asami continued talking.

“I didn’t  _ technically _ lie about anything, you just made some… assumptions. My arrangement with Kuvira was money for blood, nothing more. Which isn’t to say I haven’t had…  _ different _ … arrangements in the past, but hers was nothing sexual. I genuinely  _ do _ need to find another source of blood, and I prefer to find someone willing to take money for it. Services provided, and all that.”

Korra blinked, multiple times, and took a large gulp of water. Setting her glass down, she frowned at Asami. “...Let’s say I believe you. Can’t you just, like, buy bags of blood from someplace?”

Asami chuckled. “I can, and I do.” She opened her freezer to reveal piles of blood bags, to a gasp from Korra. “Unfortunately, there’s some… gah, this is odd to discuss, but there’s some ‘added flavor’ I suppose? Those taste of plastic, of medical tubing, with the metallic bite from the syringe, I assume. No, there really is no substitute for drinking ‘straight from the tap’, as it were.”

Again there was silence between the two women. Asami was starting to get unnerved; usually people either ran screaming, didn’t believe her and left, or were curious and had more questions. This quiet wasn’t something she was used to dealing with.

“There’s no danger of you turning into a vampire, and I would never take enough that it would negatively impact you; a ‘meal’ for me, so to speak, is about half of what you would lose if you went to donate blood. And I only need to eat once every two months, so you’re in no danger of being bled dry.”

Korra took a deep breath in, and finished her glass of water. “So you’re actually a vampire.” Asami nodded. “This isn’t, like, the world’s greatest prank being played on me by Kuvira with you as an accomplice?” Asami shook her head. “Why’d she imply all that… sex stuff?”

Asami rolled her eyes. “Probably to bother you, and because she knew I’d find it funny. But, as you can see, I  _ am _ kinkier than your average woman. Vanilla sex has grown somewhat… boring for me, over the years.”

Korra glanced back at the wall of hanging equipment, then turned back to Asami. “So, what, you wanna tie me up, bite my neck, and suck my blood? That’s a little cliche for someone as chic as you.” She gestured to Asami’s outfit and the sleek, modern decor of the apartment.

Asami shrugged. “I mean, it sounds  _ fun _ , don’t you think? And cliches endure for a reason…”

There was another moment of silence; Asami could hear the other woman’s heartbeat, easily now that they were alone in her apartment. It was steady, but still faster than expected, as if she was nervous. Or perhaps excited.

Asami gently placed her now empty glass in the sink. “I know you must have questions, hundreds of them, and I’m willing to answer. But I’d like you to sleep on this; it’s not a decision to make lightly, and a BDSM sexual relationship is a big step  _ without _ the…  _ additions _ I bring to it. As I said, nothing’s happening tonight, we’re just talking. If you wanted to move forward with this, I would want us to have a few sessions together, over the next week, that were  _ just _ sex, to make sure you felt safe.” She moved slowly towards her purse, but her movement caught Korra off guard anyways; she saw the other woman jump in her seat.

Reaching into an inner pocket, Asami pulled out a business card. She slid it halfway towards Korra across the counter, still being careful to stay as far away as feasible from the woman, and appear non-threatening. “Here’s my number. You can call or text if you have any questions, I’ll answer as honestly as I’m able.”

Korra leaned over and reached for the card. Besides the ten digits of a phone number, it was blank. She tucked it into her jacket pocket, and looked back at Asami.

“This is real. This is  _ actually _ happening, and you’re  _ actually _ a kinky vampire dominatrix.”

Asami grinned, and nodded.

Korra broke into a fit of giggles, which lasted through the rest of their goodbyes, and which Asami could hear as the woman walked down the hallway, entered the elevator, and began to ride it to the ground floor.

Now all she had to do was wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me - just a quick lil' thing about Asami being a vampire
> 
> Also Me - Ok i **have** to stop writing this, it's too long and horny


	14. Heart

“Look, Mako, just take a deep breath.”

Korra reached over, and rubbed Mako’s back as he sat, head in his hands, in the hospital waiting room. It sounded like he was  _ trying _ to not hyperventilate, but the results were mixed, at best. Korra nervously checked her phone, which had no new notifications.

“Korra, she got  _ shot _ . I’m breathing as deeply as I can.”

Korra settled for quiet companionship, shooting up out of her seat when she saw Asami enter the room. The taller woman hurried over, and gave her a quick hug before sitting down on Mako’s other side.

“Any news from the doctors?”

Mako shook his head in response, eyes still glued to the floor. Asami glanced over his back, and addressed her questions at Korra instead. “Have you called anyone?”

Korra frowned. “I mean, the station called like Suyin, and Mako called Bolin who was with Opal, so they’re on the way…” her voice trailed off, and her confusion grew as Asami rolled her eyes.

“God, Korra, I swear…” Asami stood, and walked slightly away, dialing her phone. Whoever she called answered quickly.   
  
“Yes, hi, it’s Asami- No, look… Lin’s been shot. We don’t know how she’s doing, she’s in surgery, I’ll call you as soon as I hear anything- Oh. I thought you- well nevermind. Um, North Hospital, up on 49th and- yeah. Yeah. Just Korra and Mako, but Opal and Bolin areon their way. Yeah. Ok, we’ll see you soon.”

Asami sat back down. She reached over to Mako’s knee and gave it a squeeze. “She’ll be ok, Mako, Lin’s one of the toughest people I know. She’ll pull through this.”

Korra caught Asami’s eye, and asked, quietly, “Who did you call? Tenzin?”

Asami chuckled, softly, and shook her head. “Korra, you are  _ so _ clueless sometimes. No, I didn’t call Tenzin, although I’m sure he  _ would _ appreciate hearing about this-”

Asami was interrupted by a doctor coming through a set of double doors, and calling out “Lin Beifong?”

The three stood up, and hurried over to the doctor. As soon as they were within conversational earshot, the doctor spoke. “She’s ok. She’s lost a lot of blood, and so she’s unconscious right now, but we retrieved the bullet fragments, and repaired the damage to her organs. She should wake up in a bit, but she’s ok to have company, as long as you stay quiet and don’t agitate her.”

Mako sagged with relief, tension visibly draining from his shoulders. Korra pushed him forward with a hand on his back, but he shooed the two of them on instead. “You guys go, I gotta call the station.” His phone was already out, and dialing, as Korra and Asami followed a nurse down a hallway away from the waiting room.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was strange, seeing Lin like this. On the one hand, Korra had never spent time with the woman when she wasn’t yelling or being almost  _ painfully _ formal; they’d spent some holidays together, but Lin had always seemed stiff.

On the other hand, seeing her unconscious with a breathing tube in her nose, an IV in her arm, and bandages across her midsection wasn’t exactly a great image of relaxation, either.

“You should text Tenzin, Korra. She’s ok, she’s going to be fine, but he’d rather hear about it sooner than later.”

Korra nodded in agreement, and pulled her phone out. As she composed the text (‘Hey Tenzin, don’t panic, but Lin got shot  _ but she’s fine now _ ’ seemed too flippant), she noticed Asami sending a quick text as well.

“So who did you call though?”

Asami glanced over at Korra. “Kya. I called Kya, Korra. I’m texting her the room number right now.”

Korra blinked. “ _ Kya _ ?”

Asami groaned, and rolled her eyes. “ _ Yes _ , Korra. I called Kya, Tenzin’s sister? You know, long hair, nice braids?”

Korra pushed at Asami’s arm. “Hey, don’t be a brat. But why, though?”

Asami turned in her chair, facing Korra. “Korra. You’ve seen Lin at  _ countless _ holiday dinners, right?”

Korra nodded. Being so far from her parents, she often ended up at Tenzin’s, with Asami, Mako, Bolin, and Opal in tow. Lin showed up to the bigger celebrations fairly frequently. “Yeah, she’s  _ there _ , but like she always looks so  _ uncomfortable _ .”

“S’because I  _ am _ uncomfortable, Pema and Tenzin are too domestic for me.”

Korra and Asami’s attention jumped across the room, to where Lin was viewing them through narrowed eyes. Korra rushed towards her, but Asami pulled her back, whispering “Give her some space, Korra.”

Korra swallowed. “Hi, Chief. Glad you’re awake.”

Lin responded with a groan. “Trust me, I feel like I’d rather still be unconscious, but I suppose I’m glad to see you two. Where’s-”

She was cut off as Asami ushered in a nurse, who began checking in with Lin now that she was awake, and a  _ very _ relieved looking Mako. As soon as the nurse left, Lin’s attention snapped to Mako.

“Mako, were there-”

“No one else was hurt, Chief. Well, Officer Yenzarin twisted their ankle, but that was after we got the perp, so it doesn’t really count.”

Lin nodded, seemingly pleased. Asami stepped forward. “Opal, and Bolin, are about two minutes away, and Kya is about five. Is there anyone else you want to call?”

Lin’s face clouded with a faint frown. “...Kya? But isn’t she down in-”

“That’s what I thought too, but apparently she was in town already. It was supposed to be a surprise.”

Korra watched this interaction with some confusion. Neither Lin,  _ nor Mako _ , seemed surprised that Asami had called Kya.

Asami gently pulled Korra back towards the door as Lin continued to question Mako about the wrap up of the events that had included her being shot.

“We can sit outside, give them some space. And Opal’s gonna rush in there, and Bolin will want to too, and that’ll just get crowded.”

Korra nodded. “God, having a friend get shot is  _ stressful _ .”

Asami laughed, and Korra smiled, glad to have drawn out such a pleasant sound. The two sat down in the chairs outside of the room.

“So, anyways,  _ yes _ she always looks uncomfortable, Korra. But not the  _ whole _ time; who does she always end up talking to and relaxing with?”

Korra thought back. The answer  _ was _ Kya, obviously; she  _ did _ have memories of the two of them, sitting on a couch next to each other, drinking champagne, or wine, or standing outside on Tenzin’s patio under the stars…

And Kya  _ was _ a touchy person, but even  _ that _ increased when she was around Lin…

“...Wait, so they’re…?”

Asami nodded. “It’s nothing official, I don’t think, and Lin likes to keep it quiet for her image, but yeah. I can’t believe you didn’t see it.”

Korra huffed. “I just- I just thought they were  _ friends _ , I don’t know!”

Asami let out a cackle. “Just gals being pals!”

Korra poked her in the side, trying to get her to halt the teasing, but it was ineffective, to say the least.

Opal and Bolin arrived moments later, and hurried past Korra and Asami into Lin’s room. There was  _ much _ relief that Lin was ok, from both of them, and some tears, from solely Bolin.

And then Kya was sweeping past them, and Mako was pulling Bolin out of the room and Opal followed. He shut the door behind them as they left the room.

Bolin appeared confused. “Wait, why is  _ Kya _ here? Doesn’t she live at the south pole? And why is she even visiting Lin?”

Simultaneously, Opal said “Bolin,  _ really _ ??”, Mako full-on face palmed, and Korra jumped out of her seat with a “Bolin  _ I didn’t know either! _ ”

Opal pulled Bolin into a seat and started whispering to him about stories she’d heard from Suyin, and Mako collapsed on the other side of Asami. Korra sat down, frowning. “So it was really that obvious?”

Asami patted her leg. “It’s ok, sweetie. Not everyone can pay attention to everything all the time. Even  _ Bolin _ didn’t know.”

Korra glared over at Asami. “You’re making fun of me. Like, I  _ know _ you’re making fun of me, it’s not subtle at all.” Asami did her best to look impassive, but a shit-eating grin was clearly visible on her face.

Through the window, Kya rubbed the back of Lin’s hands as they spoke, softly, and smiled at each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So *originally* this was gonna be Lin in the hospital for a heart attack, which would've tied into the theme...
> 
> but then i was writing it, and that wasn't serious enough for them to not know what was going on in the waiting room, and so i changed it, so now it's like the theme is just broader and it's about LOVE it counts it's fine!


	15. Free

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I* got to choose the prompt today, so I went with my favorite trope, and wrote a lil' college roommate thing.

To say Asami was nervous would be an understatement.

To start, college was a stressful time, and so it followed that moving in with a collegiate roommate would be  _ extra _ stressful. Sprinkle in some social anxiety, and it started to make sense why Asami was so apprehensive.

But Asami had finished ‘moving in’ hours ago now.

She’d been tense walking with her father’s butler, Theodore, through the dorm to her room, but it had been only minutes after eight AM, the earliest time to move in, so it hadn’t been crowded. Her plan had been to move in first, and then be a welcoming and helping presence for her roommate whenever they arrived.

But she’d cracked open the door, labelled on the outside with a fun ‘Asami & Korra’, and the other girl’s things had already been moved in. And not just moved in, it looked like she’d  _ slept _ there the night before.

Asami never did great when her plans went off the rails before they got a chance to begin.

She’d stayed calm as Theo helped her carry things from the truck inside to the room (she’d insisted on helping, as well as on his attire for the day; casual jeans and a t-shirt. It was the most dressed-down she’d ever seen him), and stayed calm after he left, unpacking her clothing into her side of the closet, and arranging her desk in an organized manner.

Korra’s side of the room was already messy; there were dirty clothes in the hamper, and her bedsheets were rumpled, presumably from a night of sleeping.

For the thousandth time since getting her roommate assignment, Asami wished that Korra had responded to any of her emails.

After finishing her unpacking, her hall’s RA had poked their head in; Asami had asked when Korra had moved in, and learned that the woman was in the RCU marching band. Practice had started the week earlier, and all the members who lived in the dorms had moved in early.

Her RA had let her know that there was an orientation festival starting tomorrow, and given her a map of the campus with the nearest dining hall circled. After a few parting words, Asami was once again alone in her room.

For the second time that day, Asami double-checked her class registrations hadn’t changed; they hadn’t, she remained scheduled for all the classes she planned for, as she had since the second day after registration opened. Eventually, she brought her laptop to her bed, and did some light reading on recent scientific breakthroughs. She left her door open, in a token attempt to appear welcoming to the other students moving in, but the room was at the end of the hall, past the stairwell, and so she didn’t get many visitors.

The rest of her day passed in much the same manner; she made it to the dining hall, and experienced dorm food for the first time (it was… fine). She met her neighbors across the hall, a very nice pair of art majors, and they made some light conversation.

Asami was pretty sure she didn’t come across as heiress to a billion-dollar corporation, so that was a plus.

It wasn’t until after dinner (a second successful trip to the dining hall later) that Asami met Korra. She’d closed her door (some of her hallmates were playing loud music, and it was distracting), and so jumped nearly a foot in the air when she heard the door being unlocked.

She quickly tried to double check her appearance, running her hands through her hair (it looked fine) and straightening her clothing (she was wearing a t-shirt and jeans; old habits die hard). Then, there was only a brief moment of panic about ‘how do people normally sit? Should I stand?’ and then Korra was walking into their room.

There was a moment when their eyes met; Korra stopped, a look of pleasant surprise on her face, and Asami took in all she could about the other woman.

The first word that sprung to mind was “fit” and the second was “abs”. Korra was wearing a sports bra and a pair of shorts; she’d been sweating, and in the sun all day, and her skin shone with the sort of glow that only comes after exercise.

The sound of Korra dropping her backpack to the floor jolted both of them out of their staring. 

“You must be Korra, hi.”

Asami stood and held out her hand, and Korra stepped forward to shake it. Her hand was warm, and her grip was firm.

“Yeah, which would make you Asami? It’s nice to meet you.”

_ Don’t blush, Asami. It’s just eye contact, her eyes are just a gorgeous blue, relax _ .

They chatted for a bit, then, Asami sitting in her desk chair and Korra leaning against her desk. Asami shared that she was an engineering major, enjoyed Jane Austen novels, and was excited for the orientation festival to start tomorrow so she could look at the different clubs available. Korra shared that she played trumpet in the marching band, was an education major, and had realized she was bi watching the BBC adaptation of  _ Emma _ .

Asami shared that she was bi too, and there was another moment of quiet eye contact, but it felt more comfortable than before.

Korra then abruptly said that she needed a shower, and started gathering her supplies and a towel. Asami turned back to her desk; when she heard the sound of clothing hitting the floor, she did  _ not _ fantasize about what Korra looked like naked, thank you very much.

She did take a glance at the shorter woman as she left the room, headed for the showers. The towel she was using covered  _ more _ skin than her shorts had, but something about it still felt more revealing, more intimate.

As the door closed, Asami took a deep breath.

  
_ Just don’t fall for your roommate, Asami, and you’ll be fine _ .


	16. Blue

It seemed unfair, honestly, how gorgeous Korra’s eyes were at times.

It always seemed to sneak up on her; she would find herself staring at Korra across a room, or losing focus while in a conversation with someone else. She just got caught up in those gorgeous blue eyes, even when they weren’t focused on her. 

Opal spotted it better than any other friend; Asami had lost count of how many times she and Opal had been talking, and she would suddenly realize Opal  _ wasn’t _ talking to her anymore, but was on her phone, because Asami had  _ clearly _ stopped listening at some point.

She would apologize, and Opal would shrug it off, say it wasn’t an issue, and go back to what she had been saying now that she had Asami’s attention again. It happened enough Opal had  _ stopped teasing her _ about it.

It’d been that way since college; Opal had spotted Asami’s interest in Korra before Asami had admitted it to herself; Korra had just broken up with Mako, and Asami was focused on being a ‘good friend’, whatever that meant. Opal had pulled her aside, after a party, almost halfway through sophomore year.

“You like Korra.”

Asami had frowned, tilting her head slightly. “Uh, yeah, she’s great.”

Opal shook her head. “No, that’s not- You make eye contact with her. Like  _ great _ eye contact. I noticed just now when you guys were talking.”

Asami had glanced down to the floor, a denial ready on her tongue, but-

“See? That’s what I mean. Normally you’re looking at other things in the room, or fidgeting with your something, or rolling your eyes, or being all  _ coy _ with a ducked head and a cute smile. You were all but  _ staring _ at her just now.”

Opal hadn’t pressed it that night, but it had stuck in Asami’s mind. And, try as she might (and she  _ had _ tried), she couldn’t seem to stop being extra aware of Korra’s presence, couldn’t seem to stop getting caught up in those brilliant blue eyes.

Her smile didn’t help, either. There were so many variations that Asami loved; the big bold one Korra flashed when she was the center of attention, or on the rugby field immediately after a game. The slightly crooked one when she’d just made a bad joke, whether or not people had laughed at it.

Her personal favorite Korra smile was the small, almost shy one that Korra rarely used around anyone except her. Opal pointing  _ that _ out had been what pushed Asami to ask Korra on a real date, in their senior year.

She was just a gorgeous woman. That wasn’t an original thought, many people had noticed; she was funny, smart,  _ and _ charismatic. Often the center of attention, but never fighting for attention, Korra lit up any room she was in.

In Asami’s defense, she often ended up staring at Korra because she caught the other woman staring  _ back _ at her.

Before they’d been together it hadn’t been staring, it had been fleeting glances; Asami would look over at Korra and catch her looking away, or see those piercing blues out of the corner of her eye.

And Korra either  _ knew _ how incredible her eyes were, or had  _ accidentally _ cultivated a wardrobe that accentuated them through passively absorbing compliments about when her outfit looked great; she always seemed to be wearing something blue, whether it was her top, or her sweatshirt, or some earrings or a necklace.  _ Some _ piece of her outfit would accentuate her eyes, and before Asami knew it she’d be staring at the woman from across the room, a small, dopey smile on her face.

Their friends,  _ especially _ Opal, hadn’t been surprised when they’d gotten together. It had seemed, in some ways, inevitable, just a natural evolution of their friendship. They already spent so much time together, they  _ already _ had so many inside jokes… They already stared longingly across the room at the other when they thought no one was looking. Their personal conversations had included short glances at the others’ lips, their hugs and casual touches had grown in length from ‘friendly’ into something else. Of  _ course _ they belonged together.

  
What  _ did _ surprise their friends,  _ except _ Opal, was how their honeymoon phase just… hadn’t seemed to end. They’d been together for four years, and Asami still lost her train of thought when she glanced over at Korra. Korra still stopped talking whenever Asami entered a room, still blushed at seeing Asami in a nice suit or dress.


	17. Sunflower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's part 3 of my Community Garden AU thing! If you missed the first two chapters, they are days 3 and 10. One more, coming up on day 24!

It had been somewhere in the vicinity of two months, and Asami had to admit, she’d been loving gardening. Even Opal had noticed; Asami was calmer, better rested, more personable in stressful meetings. And, yes, she was eating healthier than she was used to, and that probably helped with everything too.

Or maybe it was the added sunshine; she was spending more time outdoors by a factor of  _ ten _ , the added fresh air, even fresh air in a city, was a nice addition to her life.

Despite herself, she’d also taken to glancing over Korra’s half of their shared planter whenever she stopped by.

Not that she had come around on the rather  _ freeform _ planting style. But now that the flowers were starting to bloom... 

It was just nice being around flowers.  _ Anyone _ would feel that way. Asami certainly didn’t find some abstract pleasure in the mismatched clusters of flowers,  _ certainly _ didn’t find a real sense of beauty in the untamed nature of the plants.

But some evenings, as the sun was setting, and Asami was exhausted from a day of stuffy meetings, sore from hunching over her keyboard all day, she would take some time to enjoy the flowers.

Somewhere in the vicinity of two months after planting, she was doing just that; it was a Friday, a day she  _ usually _ worked late. But she had been talking with the head of a department about HR complaints for a few days, and today she’d snapped and fired him.

He  _ deserved _ it; you can’t go around calling people ‘sweet-cheeks’ and ‘honey’ in a professional environment, and he just didn’t seem to get that.

Opal had walked into her office at 4:30, congratulated her on finally firing “that ancient asshole”, and then asked how long it’d been since she’d visited her garden.

Asami had  _ tried _ to explain that, the last time she was here, a week ago, she’d brought in a veritable  _ bounty _ of food, and that she doubted there would be much for her to gather for another week still. She had  _ tried _ to go into detail on the growing cycles of the plants she’d chosen, and how they lined up on a week-by-week basis of maturation, and how some weeks, like this one, there simply wasn’t much gardening for her to  _ do _ .

She’d tried, but Opal had ushered her out the door, with firm instructions to “relax this weekend”.

And so here she was, standing at the planter, staring at Korra’s flowers.

She hadn’t seen the other woman in two months, at least, not in person. Some Saturday mornings she peered out of her window and saw Korra admiring her flowers; on occasion she cut a few to take away, but most of the time the woman just showed up to look at them, it seemed.

Asami wondered why Korra had gotten in on the community garden, whether this was the first year the other woman was taking part in the effort.

She wondered what the thought processes had been that had led to these specific flowers, wondered where Korra had gone to get the seeds she’d gotten. Did she know a… floral seed seller? There must be a better word for that, Asami would look it up when she went home…

But today Korra’s sunflowers drew Asami’s attention. They weren’t quite fully grown yet, still just buds and not blooms, but they were tall, taller than Asami (although the additional height of the planter probably helped). And now, with the sun setting, a gentle wind blowing through the streets, their buds, immature as they were, were still gorgeous to look at.

There was something almost spiritual about sunflowers; they so obviously conveyed their adoration of the sun, following it in its arc across the sky. It was almost a yearning motion, a desire to be closer…

“They’re coming along nicely, huh?”

Asami jolted, spinning around. Korra was standing a few feet away, hands in the pockets of her jeans, an incredibly soft looking blue tank-top bringing out her eyes. Asami did her best to not stare at Korra’s eyes, or her biceps, or her stylish, tight jeans, and so ended up glancing back at the planter.

She’d ended up coming closer than usual, and was standing directly in front of the sunflowers. Usually she tried to admire Korra’s flowers from a distance, or at  _ least _ from her half of the planter. 

“...They really are. Sorry, if I’m in your way, or-”

Korra shook her head; somehow Asami’s eyes had made their way back to the woman.

“No, I came for the same reason as you, just wanted to see my flowers.”

She stepped forward, and stopped beside Asami, gazing down at the planter. Asami did her best to focus on the smell of flowers and dirt, and  _ not _ the additional scent of Korra’s perfume she could now smell (it was almost like… citrus and rain?).

“Which ones are your favorite?”

Asami mentally berated herself as soon as the question left her mouth; Korra hadn’t come here to talk to someone she didn’t know, had probably come to have a moment of quiet with  _ her _ plants, and Asami was rudely intruding. It would be best if-

“Honestly? I like all of ‘em. I tried to stick to bright flowers, felt like I could use some more light in my life.” Korra chuckled, scratching the back of her neck, and surveying her flowers with an inscrutable look on her face.

Asami was struck by an intense urge to hug the other woman; suddenly this sunset scene of flowers and nature seemed… a little melancholy. It felt like Korra was standing next to her with the weight of the world on her shoulders, and all Asami wanted to do was take some of that pressure off of her, however she could.

“...I like the sunflowers.”

Korra glanced over at her in surprise. If Asami could have, she too would’ve glanced at  _ herself _ in surprise; she hadn’t been planning on saying that, had been planning on leaving Korra to a moment alone at the planter, had been thinking she didn’t want to make the other woman feel awkward. But the urge to continue the conversation, to distract Korra from whatever she was dwelling on had grown so strong, so fast, that she’d blurted out the first thing she thought.

“Why the sunflowers?”

Korra was looking at her, and it was all Asami could do to tear her eyes away from that piercing blue gaze and turn back to the planter.

She cleared her throat. “I just… They chase the sun, you know? It’s called ‘heliotropism’, some other plants do it too. And they stop when they fully bloom, but… It’s like you can almost hear them straining as they reach for it. There’s such a visible  _ want _ there, such obvious yearning to get closer to something they love… I suppose it’s a nice change to see something chase after what it wants.”

She turned to face Korra; the other woman was already looking back at her, head tilted slight, a thoughtful look on her face. Asami turned away, fighting down a blush as she went over her words again in her head, feeling suddenly awkward. “I’ll, uh- I’ll leave you to your flowers, I was just stopping by after… I was just stopping by.”

Asami took a few steps away, and glanced back; Korra was still watching her. 

“It was really nice talking to you, Asami. Have a good night.”

Korra gave her a smile, then, and Asami turned quickly to hide another blush, started walking home.

When she got home, she was struck by an inexplicable urge to watch the sun set, as it finished disappearing behind the mountains near Republic City, sky changing from brilliant oranges and yellows to more somber purples and blues.


	18. Electric

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My heart goes out to anyone currently suffering through much *less* romantic power outages <3

Asami liked to think of herself as a strong, capable woman.

She was smart, well spoken, quick on her feet, coordinated; overall she would rate herself as being incredibly able to handle any challenge thrown her way.

And yet, when her power went off in the middle of her shower, she  _ did _ let out a squeal of terror.

It was just because she was suddenly plunged into darkness. It was surprising. Asami wasn’t scared of the dark, she just wasn’t anticipating it.

Her shower so rudely interrupted, Asami had just wrapped herself in a towel when she heard a knock on her door, followed by “Asaaaaaami let me in! Power’s out across the city, and it’s dark out here!”

Korra, it seemed, had arrived early. They’d been planning a dinner date, on a rare evening when their schedules had lined up (more accurately, when Asami’s assistant and Korra had successfully conspired to create an open evening). Opening the bathroom door, Asami crossed her living room, lit through her wall-sized windows by the setting sun, and opened the door.

Korra stepped inside the apartment, her arms full with a brown grocery bag. “Hi babe, sorry I’m early. I lost power about an hour ago, last I heard it's some catastrophic failure in the programming, something something ‘glitch relating to the power grid’s clock’, I dunno my eyes sort of glazed over at that point. Should be fixed by tomorrow morning, they said. You smell nice.” She pressed a kiss to Asami’s cheek.

Asami shut the front door, locking it, and moved to her bedroom, keeping the door open. “So the original plan was Netflix and chill; I assume you’ve got another idea since you showed up anyways  _ and _ early?”

Outside of her bedroom, Asami heard a wide variety of sounds; some kitchen drawers opening, some movement around her couch, the crinkling of the paper bag Korra had brought. “Of  _ course _ I have a great plan, I’m the  _ best _ girlfriend, it’s why you love me.”

Asami threw on a pair of sweatpants and one of Korra’s t-shirt’s she’d… reallocated from Korra’s apartment to here.  _ Yes _ the deep blue looked good on the other girl, but it was absurdly soft, and Korra preferred tank tops anyways. This shirt hadn’t been getting the love it deserved at her place.  _ Really _ , Asami was doing the piece of clothing a favor by stea-  _ rescuing _ it as she had.

She walked out of her bedroom, brushing her hair, and let out an audible gasp. Korra turned to her with a big grin and said “Happy date night.”

The kitchen counter and coffee table were covered with an array of candles; mostly tealights, but there were one or two larger ones mixed in. It increased the light level to ‘moderately dark’, but did get rid of the long shadows cast by the setting sun, which had just dipped behind the mountains. Korra had raided Asami’s blanket stash, and the couch was almost completely covered in a variety of soft textures, their colors muted by the dim light.

On the coffee table, in between the candles, was a cutting board and knife, along with what looked like an assortment of meats, cheeses, and some apples sat nearby on the table as well. Korra was standing by the couch, a bottle of champagne in one hand, two glasses from Asami’s kitchen in the other.

It was one of the most romantic scenes Asami had ever seen, and Korra had set up an honest-to-god scavenger hunt for her to go on last Valentine’s Day.

Korra motioned Asami over to the couch. “I, uh; I looked up online what the best alcohol was to go with charcuterie, and they said champagne, and it’s always fun to drink champagne, so I figured I’d get some. I was already gonna do the charcuterie set up, you know I love finger foods, and instead of Netflix I figured we could just… talk?”

Asami stepped closer and pressed a kiss to Korra’s lips.

“That sounds wonderful.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“So you’re honestly saying you’ve  _ never _ seen Back to the Future?”

Asami laughed as Korra continued to stare, disbelieving at her. “Look, I know that I’m an engineer  _ and _ that I love time travel movies, but no, I’ve never seen any of them. Isn’t one like a western?”

Korra shook her head. “It’s not a  _ western _ , they just go back to- It’s not important, what’s  _ important _ is you should see them, they’re great, you’d love them.” She took a sip of champagne, and the candlelight danced as it illuminated her neck. She caught Asami staring, and cleared her throat.   
  
Asami hid her blush behind a sip of her own, making big, innocent, ‘who, me?’ eyes as she did so. Korra gave her a grin. “Alright, well I guess you don’t  _ have _ a favorite Back to the Future movie, so that answers that. Your turn.”

Asami hummed in thought, and reached over for a piece of cheese as she thought. She popped it into her mouth (a delicious aged cheddar), chewed, and had a question ready by the time she was finished.

“When was the first time you knew you liked women?”

Korra let out a soft “Ooooooooooo, good question…” as she refilled her champagne flute. She swirled the drink slightly, before setting it down and slicing an apple.

Asami waited patiently. It was cozy, sitting this close, being this quiet… The only sounds she heard were the wind outside, and her and Korra’s movement inside the apartment.

Korra reached forward to hand her an apple slice, which she accepted. When Korra leaned back, she finally spoke.

“Star Trek: Voyager.”

Asami let out an undignified snort, but Korra just shot her a dirty look and continued.

“Look, we used to watch like every week, as a family. And Captain Janeway, she’s just…” Korra shook her head, a fond look on her face. “She’s smart, and capable, and  _ tough _ , and she doesn’t put up with anyone’s shit… I dunno. I guess that’s what does it for me.”

She made eye contact with Asami, then, and Asami felt a blush rise in her cheeks but managed to hold Korra’s gaze, not looking away or ducking her head.

“You’re so romantic, you know that? We’re having a casual conversation, and you just slip in the sweetest compliments…”

  
Korra leaned forward, and Asami met her halfway, pressing their lips together in a kiss. It tasted like apples, and champagne, and  _ Korra _ , and it was excellent.


	19. Gold

She wasn’t nervous about the ring. She’d worked with a designer for six months to perfect the look; it was a gentle, subtle thing, rose gold with dark platinum bands interweaved in it. No ostentatious gems, no ridiculous sparkle; Korra would love it, Asami  _ knew _ that.

She wasn’t nervous about Korra’s answer, either. They’d been dating for almost six years now, they’d spoken about marriage in soft tones before sleeping, in abstract conversations purposefully far removed from  _ them _ ; she knew Korra would say yes, that Korra was ready and excited.

It was just… Asami hated doing things for the first time. She’d never been great at failing, and, despite her incredible ability to plan ahead and think things through, it was hard to be good at something the first time you did it.

And so  _ yes _ , Asami was nervous, as she sat in the restaurant, waiting for her girlfriend to arrive.

She glanced down at her watch; there were still four minutes until Korra would be ‘late’, technically, and she often arrived around five minutes  _ after _ the agreed upon starting time for any given event, dates included. There was no reason to panic, she was definitely on her way, and had probably just gotten held up at work.

Asami repeated that to herself quite often; it really  _ was _ fine that Korra ran a bit late. It was just that Asami’s father had drilled the exact  _ opposite _ habit into Asami at a young age. The mantra had been simple; to be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late, to be late is to be dead. A bit extreme, maybe, but Asami certainly wasn’t ever late for anything.

“Hey, sorry I’m late.”

Korra pressed a kiss to her cheek, and sat down at the seat across from her. Asami jumped slightly, not having even seen the woman approach. She smiled across the table at Korra, and glanced back down at her watch.

It read 6:28. Korra was actually two minutes early. Huh.

She looked back up at her girlfriend, as Korra got settled and started looking at the menu. The date tonight was at a fancier, more upscale restaurant, so Asami shouldn’t have been surprised to see Korra dressed up; Asami herself was wearing a gorgeous maroon dress. But Korra usually shied away from “fancy clothes”, as she called them, yet here she was, wearing a dark navy blue gown. She was  _ also _ wearing make-up, something Asami could count on one hand the number of times she’d seen.

(Their graduation, Jinora’s graduation, Bolin and Opal’s wedding, and Lin’s retirement party.)

“So what’s good here?”

Asami shook herself out of her thoughts, and started telling Korra about the chef’s love of seafood, about the specific specials for tonight, about what she herself was leaning towards. She was very proud of herself when Korra’s ankle rubbed up against her’s under the table, and she didn’t stutter. She did  _ blush _ , and Korra’s grin meant she’d spotted it, but Asami kept talking as if nothing had happened.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The food was excellent, as Asami had assumed it would be. She hadn’t been to this specific restaurant before, but she’d eaten at the chef’s first restaurant, once, when she had been visiting the Earth Kingdom, and could  _ still _ remember how good the meal had been.

But they had ordered seafood, and so she had been somewhat nervous that Korra wouldn’t love it, or would have critiques to offer. But by Korra’s account, the food had been phenomenal.

Asami  _ still _ hadn’t proposed.

She had the ring, in her clutch, sitting between her back and the chair. If she leaned back far enough she could feel the ring box pressing into her spine.

And it wasn’t like the evening hadn’t been going fantastically; conversation had flowed easily, as it almost always did between them, but they hadn’t gotten sucked into any big topics that would be hard to interrupt. Their talk had stayed very casual, and very flirtatious; Korra had complimented her on her dress, despite it being one that she’d worn before. Asami had come back with a compliment on Korra’s make-up, and had received an absolutely  _ adorable _ blush from the woman in response.

“I just wanted to look nice.” had been Korra’s explanation for wearing make-up.

But there just… hadn’t been a good moment, Asami felt. There  _ had _ been pauses, plenty of them, some of them almost… expectant. Moments when the verbal communication between them had died down, and Korra had just been sitting across the table from her, smiling gently. Moments when a proposal wouldn’t have felt too out of place, Asami thought.

But she hadn’t jumped on any of those moments, and they’d ended with one of them breaking eye contact to take a bite, or make a comment about their day, and the dinner had continued.

Asami  _ was _ going to do it tonight; the ring had been ready for almost a year, but it had only been the last four or five months that she’d felt the time was right to propose.

Four or five months wasn’t  _ that _ long, really.

Dessert arrived, a decadent looking slice of cheesecake drizzled with a raspberry sauce. Korra went for a bite immediately, and Asami took the opportunity to reach behind her back and get the ring box into her hand.

_ Breathe, Asami. You can do this. _

“Korra…” she started, but then all her prepared words seemed to leave her. Korra looked up at her from across the table, expression open, relaxed, an easy smile on her face. She didn’t respond, just waited for Asami to continue.

_ C’mon, you can  _ **_do_ ** _ this. Just start talking _ .

“...I love you. We’ve been together for years now, and I can easily say they’ve been the best years of my life. So far. And, I hope you feel the same, obviously, but that’s not what I want to talk about,  _ really _ , which isn’t to say I don’t value your input, it’s one of the reasons I love you, you aren’t afraid to say what’s on your mind. Which, our tastes don’t always line up  _ perfectly _ , and you’re often more of one to come at a problem straight-on, which sometimes means you don’t consider  _ all  _ the consequences of your actions, which is  _ fine _ it’s not like you’ve had huge things go poorly, because you’re so honest with people that even when things go sideways you can save it with a heartfelt conversation, but…”

Asami trailed off. She’d thought about writing something up ahead of time, but had ended up just brainstorming things she wanted to talk about and felt that would be enough.

Talking about how Korra tended to rush head-first into problem-solving was  _ not _ on that list.

Korra tilted her head, the same patient smile on her face. “...Was there something you wanted to ask me?”

And, just like that, all the pieces snapped together. Korra’s early arrival, her outfit and make-up, the way she had refrained from her usual amount of talk in favor of a receptive listening style.

Asami felt a blush rise in her cheeks. “...You knew? But how did you… I didn’t even tell anyone I was going to- How?”

Korra reached out across the table for her hand, and Asami extended one in response, keeping the other in her lap, clutching the ring box. Korra gently caressed her knuckles as she spoke.

“You’ve been antsy for months now, but it  _ really _ ratcheted up after we set the date for tonight. The date tonight, which is on the anniversary of our first date. The date at a fancier restaurant than we usually go to, which specializes in seafood, which I love way more than you do.” Asami grumbled out something about her food having been great, and Korra laughed. “I’m sure you enjoyed it, ‘Sams, but you and I  _ both _ know you’d take a steak over any seafood every day of the week.”

Asami rolled her eyes, and Korra squeezed her hand. “So, again… was there something you wanted to ask me?”

Korra’s eyes sparkled in the dim light of the restaurant. For a moment, staring into Korra’s eyes, Asami felt like she could hear the ocean, crashing up against the shore of Republic City. And maybe she could, this restaurant  _ was _ closer to the beach than she usually was…

Asami took a deep breath. “Korra, you’ve made my life better and brighter since the moment I met you, and falling in love with you,  _ being _ in love with you feels as easy as breathing. When I- When I think about the future, about  _ my _ future, and what I want from it, there’s no images there that don’t include you, right beside me. Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

Both of their eyes had started misting up as she’d spoken, but when Asami placed the ring box on the table and asked ‘the question’, Korra had to reach up and wipe a tear away. She stood and pulled Asami up out of her chair and into a hug.

“Yes, Asami. Yes, yes, a  _ thousand _ times yes.”

They made a bit of a scene, other customers looking over as two women hugged and laughed and cried a bit, but when Korra opened the box and gasped, and extended her hand for Asami to slide the ring on to her finger, the restaurant could have been on fire for all the attention they were paying to it.

The woman she loved had agreed to marry her, and Asami couldn’t be happier.


	20. Superhero AU

When Asami had first started to suspect something was amiss, she’d originally thought that Korra was cheating on her.

It wasn’t that she didn’t feel loved by Korra; the other woman spent  _ so much _ of their time together gazing at her, her casual touches continued as they had throughout their relationship, things in the bedroom hadn’t changed…

But Korra kept cancelling dinner dates, or ducking out early from lunches, or just coming home late from work. And work was always the excuse, “Oh, Tenzin wants me to write a piece on the harbor expansion project” “Tenzin didn’t like my draft about the mayor’s views on homelessness in Republic City”, things like that. Asami was used to Korra being called away to go cover some crisis, or respond to a work issue, that wasn’t new.

She only started getting  _ truly _ suspicious when she called the Republic City Times, about a half hour after Korra had been ‘called in’ to work on something. Specifically, she’d called Bolin; it’d seemed an easier way to reach Korra than going through the layers of secretaries that calling the building itself would entail.

Korra’s phone had gone straight to voicemail. It was probably just dead, she always seemed to forget to charge it.

Bolin had answered, easily, and they’d chatted a bit, but before Asami could ask him to hand the phone across the cubicle wall to Korra, he’d casually mentioned how weird it was to be the only reporter on the entire floor. Said it made him feel like he was in a horror movie.

Asami had thought back to the lunch, to Korra groaning apologetically about how she’d “be working on this rewrite all afternoon”.

And so of  _ course _ her first thoughts had flown to infidelity. Korra was a gorgeous woman, and perhaps she wasn’t as happy as Asami had been assuming she was.

It wasn’t like Asami was the perfect partner; running a multi-billion dollar corporation wreaked havoc on one’s schedule, and beyond that she was a perfectionist, got snippy when she was upset, had a tendency to retreat into herself instead of communicating her grievances well…

All said, there were  _ many _ reasons Asami had wondered, for years, why Korra  _ was _ with her.

So she’d started taking notes (obviously), cataloguing all the times Korra got ‘called away’ to work, tried to get a sense of how serious the problem was.

This had continued until she’d been watching the news one day. Some madmen had taken an entire bank in downtown hostage, and had been there for hours. It had dominated the news cycle, so much so that Asami had watched on her lunch break.

(Usually she scheduled work to get done during her lunch break, but she’d originally had lunch with Korra planned, before the other girl had begged off, saying she had to cover the events happening downtown. Asami dithered, but ended up  _ not _ writing the date and time in her notebook.)

Soon enough, Republic City’s resident hero, the Avatar, had arrived on the scene; either someone on the police force had her number, or she just knew when to arrive at situations that were growing too much for the police to handle.

Predictably, she handled things fairly quickly; Asami supposed that when you could move faster than the human eye could perceive, and were impervious to bullets, that solving a hostage stand-off was fairly simple.

But at the tail end of the live broadcast, Asami’s eye was caught; one of the hostage takers managed to get a shot off, and it went  _ past _ the Avatar and towards the line of police outside. Asami didn’t realize this until after the fact; all she saw was the Avatar appear in a blur of motion, arm outstretched, hand clasped around a bullet, which she then dropped, harmlessly to the ground.

But,  _ as she dropped it _ , the woman twisted her head to the side, as one might stretch her neck, and her mouth, visible beneath her mask, twisted in a grimace.

And in that moment Asami saw Korra, standing on the street, in front of the bank and rows of police.

It was the **_exact_** same motion she’d seen Korra make thousands of times, whenever she felt she could have done something better. She’d seen it in college, when the woman hadn’t done as well on a test as she thought she could have, she’d seen it after Korra got comments from Tenzin about a draft she’d worked hard on, but had come back covered in red ink… It was a gesture Asami was intimately familiar with.

And then, in the next moment, it was just the Avatar on screen, looking as commanding as ever, shaking hands with the police for photos, and then flying off in a gust of wind.

Asami had pushed her salad away, tried to convince herself that she was losing her mind. There was  _ no way _ her girlfriend was the Avatar, that would be ridiculous. How would she find the time to fight crime while living a completely separate life?

Except… they  _ were _ similar heights, they  _ did _ both have similar haircuts and colors, they were both muscular… Putting aside the inherent absurdity of the suggestion, Korra and the Avatar  _ did _ look rather similar.

And then her eyes had fallen on her notebook, on the list of times Korra had acted suspiciously and left without a proper explanation.

From there, it had been a simple task of searching the internet, trawling Avatar fan forums for lists of actions she’d taken across the city in the past months, and cross-referencing those lists with her own.

They’d matched.  _ Perfectly _ .  _ Every _ time she had written down corresponded to a time the Avatar had saved someone from a mugging, or stopped an armed gunman, or saved a boatload of people from drowning in a storm. And what’s more, there were  _ no _ times that the Avatar had acted when Korra had been with Asami.

Asami left work early, and headed back to their shared apartment.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

By the time Korra got home, she had water boiling on the stove for pasta, and a sauce simmering away next to it. The air was thick with herbal scents, and Asami was currently mixing up a salad to accompany the pasta.

She had  _ hoped _ that cooking would help clear her mind, help calm down the simmering rage she felt in the pit of her stomach. It had not.

“Oh, hey Asami!” Korra closed the door, hung her jacket on a hook, and stepped into the kitchen, pressing a kiss to Asami’s cheek. Asami, poker face perfected over years of tedious board meetings, plastered a pleasant grin onto her face and hoped Korra wouldn’t notice. “You’re home early.”

Asami shrugged. “I wasn’t getting a lot done at work, just felt… distracted, so I decided to come home early, make something nice for dinner. How was work?”

She tried to ask it casually; did she  _ usually _ ask about Korra’s workday? What was it like to be around her partner and not suspect them of constantly lying to her? She’d seemingly forgotten.

Korra, at least, seemed not to notice. “The bank thing downtown wrapped up nicely, and I wrote up a draft for an article tomorrow; don’t worry, I was standing around the corner, not in direct line of sight of anything dangerous, just did interviews with people after the fact, mostly.”

Asami stirred the sauce. “I saw it on the news actually. It looked pretty wild. Did you interview anyone who spoke to the Avatar?” She was facing away from Korra, and so couldn’t be sure, but thought she saw the woman freeze, momentarily, out of the corner of her eye.

“...Yeah, I spoke to some of the officers there. Some of them have worked with her before, they all had good things to say. But, you know, she’s not exactly  _ talkative _ .”

Asami hummed in response. She’d thought she would be able to do this, to fake ignorance, better. But faced with the reality of being almost positive her girlfriend was lying, straight to her face… It was too much for her to handle. She turned around, facing Korra, who was sitting at the kitchen counter, scrolling mindlessly through her phone.

“Almost missed catching that bullet, huh?”

Korra scoffed, didn’t look up from her phone. “Naw, I had plenty of time before-”

Her words cut off sharply, and she froze. Her eyes darted up from her phone to meet Asami, arms crossed, jaw clenched, glaring back at her.

Korra swallowed. “I mean, I saw the footage; it looked like-”

“ _ Korra _ .”

Asami’s voice rang through the apartment, seemed to echo off of its surfaces despite her subdued volume. Maybe it was the venom apparent in her tone, maybe it was how furious she looked, but Korra again stopped mid-sentence.

The sauce bubbling behind Asami demanded her attention. Exhaling through her nose, she turned back to stirring. “Don’t. Not anymore. Ok?”

For a moment, the only sounds were the bubbling of the pasta water, and the gentle scrape of the wooden spoon against the saucepan.

From behind her, Korra’s voice sounded again. “I wanted to tell you.”

Asami whirled from the stove, eyes all but glowing with rage. “Oh you  _ wanted _ to tell me? You  _ wanted _ to, but  _ couldn’t _ , is that right? The most powerful woman in Republic City, capable of stopping  _ trains _ , impervious to bullets,  _ literally _ able to defy the very  _ laws of physics that govern reality _ , but  **_couldn’t tell me the truth?_ ** Korra, we’ve been together for years,  _ years! _ And you just keep this hidden away from me? Do you not trust me?”

Korra was on her feet, a hurt look on her face but intensity in her eyes. “Of  _ course _ I trust you Asami, I can’t just go around telling anyone that-”

“ _ I’m not ‘anyone’ _ , Korra, that’s my  _ point! _ ”

“I  _ know _ you’re not just  _ anyone _ , obviously, but telling you puts you in  _ danger _ , Asami, more danger than you’re already in as one of the most high profile people in the city!”

“And so it’s  _ nothing _ to do with who my father was, right?”

The words left Asami’s mouth before she realized she was saying them, but by the time she could consider regretting them they had already been said. They hung in the air like a thick smoke.

Korra took a step into the kitchen. Behind her, Asami heard the sauce boiling  _ again _ ; with a muttered curse, she turned around, shut off the burner, and stirred it furiously. Hopefully it wasn’t burnt.

“Asami-”

“ _ Don’t _ . Don’t act like that wasn’t part of it. We both know his views on the Avatar, he made those  _ quite _ public, even before… even before everything he tried to do.”

Five years ago Hiroshi Sato had been arrested in a police investigation that had revealed he’d been experimenting on human subjects, trying to reproduce the powers of the Avatar through chemical treatments and various types of radiation. At trial, on the stand, he’d gone on a long rant, spittle flying from his mouth, about how “that freak can’t be trusted”, that she was a threat to the world, to their way of life…

Asami hadn’t spoken to him, hadn’t seen him, since he’d been sentenced to life in prison. He’d killed 18 test subjects before the police had traced the victims back to him.

Asami placed her hands on the counter beside the stove, hung her head, and tried to breathe. This hadn’t gone like she’d wanted it to; she was supposed to confront Korra, and then… well, she hadn’t planned that far, actually.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Asami. I’m sorry for lying to you, for keeping this from you, but I really was just trying to keep you  _ safe _ . And… I didn’t want you to think of me differently. It has  _ nothing _ to do with your father, I know you aren’t him, but… I’m not… I’m not  _ normal _ , he was right about at least that.”

Asami turned around to face Korra again, who looked truly miserable. There were unshed tears in her eyes, and Asami felt her anger bleed out of her. “No, you’re not normal, Korra. You’re  _ extraordinary _ .” She reached up to wipe away a tear that had begun tracking down Korra’s face. “You’re one of the most astonishing things I’ve ever seen, one of the most amazing people I’ve ever known, and I’ve thought that ever since I met you.”

She pulled Korra into a hug, and kissed the top of her head. “C’mon. Grab some plates, I’ll finish up dinner, and we can talk about… all this. Ok? But no more secrets.”

Korra wiped the tears from her eyes, and shot her a shaky grin. “No more secrets.”


	21. Hair

Asami had been raised to have impeccable manners.

It sort of came with the territory; the Satos were  _ important _ , and Asami’s actions reflected back onto the family as a whole, which, in turn, reflected onto the business. This had been drilled into her at a young age. And so the moments when she fell out of her high class manners, especially when eating, were few and far between.   
  
And yet, when she saw Korra’s haircut, the first day of Junior year, waiting for the other woman to join her for lunch, she almost spit her coffee all over Opal, who was sitting across from her.

Opal gave her a weird look as she  _ didn’t _ spit her coffee across the table, but instead merely choked on it. “Asami, are you alright? God, do you need, like, some napkins? Some water maybe?”

Asami had waved her off, and gestured towards Korra; Opal had turned to greet her. “KorraaaaAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH OH MY GOD YOUR HAIR!!!” The earth kingdom girl had leapt out of her seat to embrace Korra, excitement plain on her face and in her voice. “It looks so GOOOOOOOOD!!!”

By the time Korra managed to sit down, blushing slightly and rubbing the back of her neck, Asami had regained proper usage of her esophagus, and breathing in general. She made eye contact with Korra, and felt like she’d just licked a battery.  _ God _ , the shorter hair just drew  _ more _ attention to Korra’s eyes, how blue they were, a gorgeous shade of cobalt with slight variations, moving from hints of green to almost black-

“Hi.” Korra’s voice was soft, even as Opal kept ranting about how great Korra’s new haircut looked, reaching over and brushing at the soft fringe which sat just below her chin.

Asami blinked herself out of her reverie. “Hi. You look- Your haircut looks great. You look great too, but you always- Hi. I missed you.”

There was that blush again, faint on Korra’s darker skin but visible in the way that the woman ducked her head slightly. “I missed you too. How was your summer?”

Asami launched into a story she’d already told Opal, of dinners with investors and shitty privileged sons of those investors, and Korra listened and laughed. Opal provided commentary; it was a perfect afternoon.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Do you really think it looks good?”

Asami looked over at Korra. It was late now; their lunch date had turned into an afternoon lazing on the quad, and from there into a dinner party with Mako and Bolin added, and from  _ there _ into a movie night. Mako, Bolin,  _ and _ Opal had all agreed to play a drinking game where they drank every time there was unbearable homoerotic tension on the screen; the movie had been Grease, and, as such, all three were now passed out on the couch. Korra and Asami had migrated to the balcony, sharing a blanket on a loveseat, as a cool fall breeze blew through the air.

“Korra.  _ Yes _ . It looks incredible, really.”

Asami didn’t speak on how beautifully it framed the other girl’s face, or on how it drew attention to her collarbones. She didn’t mention how her eyes had been drawn to the sleek line of Korra’s neck all night, or how her shoulders looked even  _ better _ not obscured by her longer hair.

She didn’t say any of that, and more.

Korra sighed. “I just… It’s the first time I’ve had short hair in  _ years _ , and like, I  _ wanted _ to get it cut short, and I like it… It’s just…”

Asami, surprised by her own braveness, reached over and placed her right hand on Korra’s knee. “It’s a big thing, I get it. Hair takes forever to grow, and a dramatically different hairstyle is a big change. But it looks  _ great _ .”

Korra rubbed at the back of her neck. “You don’t think it makes me look too masculine?”

Asami frowned, slightly. “No? I mean, it’s still longer than most guys haircuts, and even  _ with _ all those muscles it’d be tricky for someone to mistake you for a dude.”

Internally, Asami cursed at herself. She was being too obvious, she was going to weird Korra out.

It hadn’t been until a week after sophomore year had ended, and she hadn’t been seeing Korra on an almost daily basis, that Asami had realized; she had a  _ gigantic _ crush on her best friend.

At first, the realization had scared her; Asami had always identified as straight, and so realizing she had a crush on a woman was a major milestone in her life. But having that woman  _ also _ be the best friend she’d ever had?

Every text, every email she sent to Korra she’d  _ agonized _ over the word choice, over the length, over the tone… It had been, overall, a rather stressful ordeal. But, she was  _ pretty _ sure she’d made it back to school without Korra noticing anything strange from her end.

To be so blatantly complimenting her friend’s body on the  _ first _ day back was definitely breaking the rules she’d set for herself around how to interact with Korra.

But Korra chuckled, nudging Asami with her shoulder. “You could have muscles too, y’know, if you ever did anything more than running at the gym.”

Asami laughed. The sound of the wind through the trees was soft and soothing, and classes didn’t start until the coming Monday, so there wasn’t any loud party off in the distance to disturb the peacefulness of the night.

Korra pulled out her phone, and brought up a video she’d apparently meant to show Asami, but hadn’t ever gotten around to sending. That was why Asami started to lean close into Korra’s side, to see the phone screen better, nothing more. And Korra moved her arm to around Asami’s shoulders when it got a bit colder outside, just to help her keep warm.

Opal found them like that, in the morning; Korra’s head draped back against the loveseat, arm still draped around Asami, who was curled into her side and resting her head on Korra’s shoulder.


	22. Castle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up! First off, the rating for the fic has escalated to Explicit - this chapter's smut!
> 
> Secondly, it's a smutty sequel to the Paranormal AU chapter, which was day 13 if you missed it.

Korra had been looking forward to this for a while now.

Sure, there had been a period of a few days there, right after Asami told her that she was a  _ real-life actual  _ **_vampire_ ** that she’d been a bit freaked out.

But, like… c’mon. Understandable.

She’d called Kuvira and the other woman had broken into a fit of laughter that had lasted for a solid five minutes before they could have an actual conversation. But, once Kuvira calmed down, complaining that her abs were getting sore she was laughing so hard, she was more honest with Korra; she corroborated everything that Asami had said about their arrangement, and answered any questions Korra had.

How long had their arrangement been? Two years and ten months. Had Kuvira experienced any negative side effects to getting her blood drained? No, just a sort of soft, floaty feeling during and after, like wrapping your entire body up in a blanket fresh from the dryer, after having eaten an edible. Why did Kuvira imply the whole  _ sex _ part of it? Because it would be hysterical, but also because she thought the two would actually be a good match, sexually. Asami wouldn’t be intimidated by Korra’s muscles, or boisterous attitude, or… anything, probably.   
  
Had Asami  _ ever _ acted in a way that scared Kuvira?

This one took the longest to answer, but aside from the whole  _ vampire _ thing, the answer was no.

“I mean it Kor, she was always incredibly respectful of me and my time, and never gave off bad vibes.”

Korra switched her phone from one hand to the other, looking down at the business card Asami had given her. Where even  _ was _ area code 616, like, Illinois? In her ear, Kuvira continued talking.   
  
“No, there wasn’t ever any like  _ real _ fear, it’s just… I dunno if it was the poison, or the realization of the fact that an  _ actual vampire _ was sucking my blood, but during our… times together, I’d get this, like, feeling in the pit of my stomach. The only other time I’d felt anything like it was when I was first trying stuff out with sex, and experimenting with bondage. It was that same helplessness, but times like a  _ thousand _ . And I  _ hate _ it, but you’re into it, so I figured you two would be a good match. I  _ know _ she’s your type, I’d categorize her as trustworthy, almost a friend if she hadn’t been paying me so much… Aside from the whole ‘being a vampire’ thing she’s a good person. As far as I know.”

The call ended soon after, and Korra was left on her couch, staring down at the business card in her hand, numbers embossed on the heavy card stock.

The next morning Korra had sent a text, a short “im interested”. The entire day she’d fretted over Asami’s lack of response, worrying about whether she should have said more, whether she should have called… had she waited too long since their initial meeting? It’d only been a few days, but what if Asami had been looking for a long time, what if she wasn’t as interested in Korra as she’d seemed…

That evening, as the sun set, Korra received a response.

Sunset. Vampire.  _ Duh _ .

Asami, at least, didn’t make fun of her for texting while she’d been sleeping, and, true to her word, answered any questions she had.

And so, a week after meeting Asami, Korra had gone over to her place, late on a Friday night, to have sex.

It had been phenomenal.

They’d started out sharing their kinks, establishing safe words, boundaries, that sort of thing. Asami had been incredibly respectful and open through the whole process. And then had ordered Korra to strip, right there at the kitchen counter.

They hadn’t gone into any territory Korra would classify as even ‘BDSM-related’ but still, it had been the best sex she’d ever had.

Until the  _ next _ week, when Asami introduced rope. And a blindfold.

Walking had been tricky, the day after  _ that _ .

The next two weeks had been more of the same, introducing more BDSM toys and gear, and experimenting with more of a domme/sub style than the previous week, etc etc. They’d both had occasions to use their safewords, and it had always gone smoothly, a quick pause in the action to correct something, or check in with honesty about how things were going.

And so here it was, one month after she’d initially met Asami, and Korra was standing in the elevator, anxiously tapping her foot as it ascended to Asami’s penthouse.

Tonight was  _ the _ night. They’d talked extensively about it, Asami was going to feed on her tonight.

Korra had been a horny mess all week. No amount of masturbation seemed to soothe her anticipation for tonight, and she’d been distracted constantly, even while at work.

She squeezed her thighs together, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. She tried to take a deep breath, tried to calm down, but any progress on that front was quickly lost when the elevator doors opened.

Almost immediately in front of them was the door into Asami’s apartment. No one else lived on this floor, there weren’t any closets or anything, just a solitary door, without even an apartment number on it.

She approached the door, and raised a hand to knock. Asami opened the door before her hand connected with it.   
  
“Korra, hi. Please,  _ come in _ .”

Asami dropped her voice into a ridiculously sultry pitch for the last two words, stepping aside for Korra to enter. Glancing at her eyes, Korra could see the laughter dancing there.

Korra rolled her eyes, and tried to put on a casual air as she entered the apartment. It probably didn’t work, since Asami had shared that she could hear Korra’s heartbeat, as well as smell her, so she was probably aware of the fact that Korra was a flustered mess right now, but… It made Korra feel better.

She removed her jacket, hanging it on the coat rack on the wall near the door. Asami, after closing the door, walked into the kitchen. A glass of water was already waiting for Korra on the counter.

(This had been true of all of Korra’s visits. When she’d asked, Asami had answered that hydration was important.)

Asami leaned back against the sink, casually crossing her arms, as Korra took a seat at the counter and grabbed the glass. “So, Korra… are you ready?”

It was the kind of question that could have easily been intimidating, or asked almost as a formality. But Asami’s tone was serious, as it always was outside of their scenes. She treated consent seriously, and the question was clearly an honest one;  _ was _ Korra ready? If not, she could easily say so, and the night would divert away from their plan.

Korra took a drink of water, and relished in how Asami’s eyes flicked down to her throat as she did so.

Over the series of their… encounters, so far, Korra had learned some about what drove Asami wild. Being a bit of a brat, calling her “ma’am” or “mistress”, and showing off her body. Specifically her neck; Asami liked to grab it, liked to lick it, enjoyed collars and such…   
  
And so if her drink of water went on longer than a normal drink, well… that’s what she was here for.

Korra set down the now half-full (half-empty?) glass, and spoke in response. “Yeah. I’m ready and willing.”

She thought she might have imagined how Asami’s pupils dilated as she asked “And what are our safewords?”

Korra couldn’t resist giving a slight eye-roll; it had been a month, and the safewords were simple. Still, she knew Asami was, again, genuinely asking, so she answered. “‘Green’ means keep going, ‘Red’ means stop right now, ‘Yellow’ means I need a moment. And if I can’t talk I snap my fingers twice.”

She  _ definitely _ didn’t imagine Asami’s pupils dilating this time. The intoxicating sight was accompanied by a sinfully confident grin. “Go into the bathroom. You’ll find instructions for you there.”

Entering the bathroom, she flicked on the light. On the counter was a handwritten note, impeccable cursive on nice paper.

_ 1 - Close the bathroom door _

_ 2 - Strip _

_ 3- Turn off the bathroom light _

_ 4 - Walk into the bedroom, and do what I say _

_ A _

Korra followed the first two steps, and then opened the bathroom door. The light from the bathroom spilled out into the now dark apartment; Asami was nowhere to be seen. As she shut off the bathroom light, she was plunged into darkness. The windows had their curtains drawn, and so she was forced to stand in place until her eyes adjusted enough for her to shuffle towards the bedroom.

She did so, with a hand on one wall guiding her more than her eyes, and eventually encountered the doorframe, door already opened. Her nipples were already stiff, her breathing already coming quickly; this was what Asami  _ excelled _ at, creating an impossibly erotic sense of anticipation. This darkness was new, though; they’d played with blindfolds, but having her eyes uncovered but still almost useless was… different.

She stepped, slowly, into the bedroom. In front of her, she knew, was Asami’s gigantic bed. She could picture the rest of the furniture in the room, but it seemed almost  _ darker _ in here than in the living room, her night vision barely adapting enough for her to see her bare feet on the wood floor.

With a slight gust of wind, she heard the door swing shut behind her. Simultaneously, she heard Asami’s voice from somewhere in front of her.

“Kneel.”

Korra did so; her breath was coming faster now, and she was certain Asami could tell how aroused she was. The floor felt cool on her knees.

Asami’s voice, coming soft and breathy in her ear, made her jump. “Are you prepared to submit to me?” Her hand trailed down Korra’s opposite shoulder blade, fingertip trailing, barely touching.

Korra managed to let out a breathy “Yes,” and then Asami’s lips were on hers, in a gentle kiss. She tasted like cool night air, like a shot of espresso with a hint of whiskey; it was intoxicating. As their kiss deepened, Korra felt a hand under her chin guide her back into a standing position, and then Asami walked her over to the bed. After pushing her over onto it, Asami repeated her first command again, bringing Korra back into a kneeling position. She moved Korra’s knees apart, widening her stance on the bed. As she did so, Korra heard her voice, again soft, but more serious, in her ear, “Color?”

“Gr- Yellow?”

Asami instantly stopped, taking her hands off of Korra. “What is it?”

Korra felt her face flush as she spoke. “Can… Can you turn like  _ some _ lights on? I appreciate the whole vibe you’ve got going on, but… I want to see you.”

Asami’s sigh was audible, and she gave Korra a command, “Don’t move.” before Korra felt her leave the bed. After a moment, the silence in the room was broken by the sound of a match being struck.

Even dim as it was, the light seemed almost painfully bright to Korra’s eyes, but it was worth it to see Asami, wearing absolutely nothing. When they made eye contact, Asami gave her the eye-roll she’d clearly been saving for the moment, but it was accompanied by a fond grin. She lit a few more candles, before asking “That better?”

Korra nodded. Her mouth was dry; it was easy to get used to how gorgeous Asami was while clothed, but naked the other woman resembled a goddess, her dark hair spilling in soft waves down over her chest, leading the eye to the curve of her breasts, the darker peaks of her areolas, the soft, smooth plane of her stomach, and the dark cluster of curls between her thighs, supported by casually strong muscles shifting beneath her pale skin.

Asami walked back to the bed, and pressed a kiss to Korra’s cheek. “Color?”

Korra’s answer was more confident. “Green.”

Asami’s soft grin turned slightly predatory. “Good. Keep not moving.”

Korra felt the rope slide against her skin before she saw it; she wasn’t that surprised Asami had gravitated towards it. Asami draped the rope over her shoulders, and quickly began a series of twists , running the cord down Korra’s front and between her spread legs.

“Mmmm, I can feel how wet you are…” Asami breathed into Korra’s ear, and Korra did her best to repress a full-body shudder. She knew that Asami meant it when she said ‘don’t move’, and she knew that she wanted to do what Asami said.

Asami tied a knot in the rope as she threaded it between Korra’s legs, and then ran it up her back, periodically bringing it around her sides to intertwine with the rope on her front. Asami had done Korra up in a full body shibari tie before, but that had been Korra’s first experience with ropes, more of a welcome into the idea than truly restraining her. This time her hands were bound behind her back as well, and, as she pulled on them, the entire harness seemed to only grow tighter. As Asami finished the tie, attaching the ends of the ropes on her back to the strands drawn taut around the back of her neck, Korra couldn’t help but let out a soft whimper. Unlike last time, when Asami had placed a knot between her legs to grind on, this time the rope separated, two parallel lines running along the outside, keeping her from feeling any sort of pleasant friction.

“You’re doing so good, baby, you stayed nice and still even though I can tell how much you want to move. You’re being such a good little slut for me.”

Asami’s words were followed by her tongue, trailing slowly from her shoulder, skipping over the rope, and up the column of her neck to behind her ear, where she pressed a kiss.

Her hands crept around Korra’s front, and Korra cried out as Asami palmed one breast and pinched the nipple on the other. Her cries softened into moans as the touch continued, and despite her clear instructions she squirmed against her bonds, testing the give in them; it was not much.

She leaned back into Asami, and turned her head sideways; she was greeted by the gorgeous sight of Asami’s eyes, blown wide with pleasure. Asami looked down at her, and her grin widened into an open mouthed one, revealing her canines, longer than Korra had seen them before, and wickedly pointed.

Asami began to form a question with her mouth, but Korra beat her to the punch with a stuttered “G-green.  _ Please _ , Mistress, touch me.”

Asami’s mouth turned into a wicked grin. “Oh my sweet, I’m touching you right now.” She punctuated the sentence with a harder pinch of Korra’s nipples, but her other hand began to sweep down across Korra’s stomach, trailing lazily over her muscles and down towards the burning need at her core. Almost  _ painfully _ , her hand stopped before it reached low enough, and Asami merely curled her fingers in the soft hair between Korra’s thighs, moving them back and forth between the rope lines which framed her vulva.

Korra lolled her head back against Asami’s shoulder, breathing heavily. “Please, Mistress, touch my…”

Asami leaned closer. “Use your words, my pet.” The grin on her face was absolutely fiendish, and amusement twinkled behind the hunger in her eyes.

Despite them both being naked, despite having had sex multiple times, despite  _ currently being tied for erotic display _ , Korra felt a flush rise in her cheeks, hot and fierce. But she also knew that Asami wouldn’t touch her, wouldn’t use those long fingers for any more concentrated pleasure until she asked.

Asami had said, after the first time this happened, that it was because Korra was “too cute” when she blushed.

“Touch my clit, fuck me,  _ please _ Mistress…”

Asami let out a pleased hum, and her fingers resumed their downward journey, and  _ finally _ started to rub against Korra’s clit. The anticipation she’d been feeling for a week was brought back to the forefront of her mind; despite her multiple masturbation sessions, it felt as though she hadn’t cum in a week’s time.

Asami’s other hand continued tracing around Korra’s breasts, moving from soft circles to firmer presses to almost painful pinches. It was driving Korra wild.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck Asami, I’m close, oh god…” Korra had her eyes closed, hips bucking with pleasure up into Asami’s hand. She felt Asami press her lips to her neck, felt her mouth open and the tips of her elongated canines trail along her skin. She couldn’t keep a shudder from rippling through her entire body.

“It’s ok, my sweet. Cum for me?”

At the request, Korra felt herself begin to tip over the edge into her orgasm. As she did so, she felt a sharp pain in her neck, almost  _ too _ painful to still be considered sexual. But then, right behind that pain was a warm, soft feeling, driving all of her muscles away from tension and towards a limp relaxation.

She felt like she was flying into a star. She came hard enough that she lost vision for a moment, felt like she lost hold of where her body was, of what the very concept of having a body was.

When she came back to herself, Asami was already threading the rope back between her legs, almost finished undoing the harness. Her hands had already been freed. She turned her head to the side, and kissed Asami’s chest, where her head rested. “M-mistress what about yo-” A finger was pressed to her lips, and she managed to drag her eyes up into Asami’s. There was nothing paranormal about her face now, she had a gentle smile on and was looking at Korra with something approaching love.

“Shhh, it’s alright. I know when someone’s good to keep going, and when someone’s done for the night. Besides, that was my first time biting you, and I know how much that takes it out of people.”

Korra stayed limp, leaned back against Asami, as the rope was removed from her body. She let Asami reposition her so they leaned up against the pillows on the head of the bed, and dutifully drank from the water bottle Asami handed her.

Asami kept her body pressed close to Korra’s, a grounding presence as Korra slowly came back into herself.

“I feel bad you didn’t cum tho…” Her words were sleepy, her eyelids feeling heavy; it was, after all, late at night, and only one of them was nocturnal.

Asami let out a low chuckle. “The sensation of…  _ feeding _ , is not unpleasant for me, don’t worry.”

Korra laughed into Asami’s side. Asami’s fingers wound casually through Korra’s hair, rubbing against her scalp and pushing her towards sleep.

“So, like, how did you become a vampire?”

Asami leaned down and pressed a kiss to Korra’s head. “That’s a story for another time. Relax. Sleep. It’s late.”

“Why don’t you sleep in a coffin?”

“It’s not very comfortable sleeping in an enclosed wooden box. Makes anyone feel slightly claustrophobic, you know?”

“Do you have a castle?”

“It’s not  _ technically _ a castle, it’s a medieval fortress, and-”

Korra sat upright, looking at Asami. “Wait, deadass you have a castle?”

Asami rolled her eyes and pulled Korra back into a lying position. “ _ As I was saying _ it’s a historic site, I own it but it’s not  _ livable _ , plus it's in the middle of nowhere in Belgium. I prefer the city.”

Korra let her eyes close, relax into Asami’s side. “...Can’t believe you own a  _ castle _ and you don’t live in it, that’s dumb.”

The last thing she remembered before sleep took her was the soft sound of Asami’s laughter, and the soothing sensation of her hands carding through her hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This AU is *so dumb* i love it. The conversation at the end was what popped into my head as soon as I read the word 'castle' on the prompt list, and so here y'all are, a chapter of smutty vampire action. Hope you enjoyed it!


	23. Violet

It’d been three weeks, and  _ still _ Asami stared at the flag on her roommate’s wall like it would have answers for her, like staring at it would give her some epiphany.

It wasn’t exactly a confusing flag; it was high quality, and looked to be handmade instead of store bought, which was somewhat interesting but, again, not confusing.

She’d looked it up online. The fuchsia on the top and the dark blue on the bottom apparently represented attraction to the same sex or the opposite sex, respectively, and the violet stripe in the middle was where they overlapped.

A rather clever design to represent bisexuality, Asami supposed.

She wasn’t even sure  _ why _ she was looking at it so much. It wasn’t like she had a problem with gay people, she wasn’t her  _ father _ or anything… There had been some gay people in choir, back in high school, and Asami had gotten along with them just fine. The boys were fun to talk to about hot guys around the school, and the girls had such a strong sense of identity that it was just pleasant being around them.

It was just a bisexual pride flag. There wasn’t some hidden meaning, or-

“Asami?”

Asami lurched in her desk chair, jerking her eyes away from the flag and towards the door, where her roommate stood.

“Opal! Hi, hey. Hi.”

Inexplicably flustered, Asami swiveled her chair quickly to face her desk, instead of the flag across the room from it. Her laptop was still open, the paper for ‘Intro to Technical Writing’ barely started.

(To be fair, the paper wasn’t due for another two weeks, but Asami liked to be ahead of the curve on deadlines. Harder to fall behind, that way.)

Behind her, she heard Opal close their doom room door, and sit down at her own desk. There was a beat of silence, and then Opal spoke.

“Hey, so… I’m going to a Pride club meeting later tonight. Would you wanna come?”

Asami turned her chair  _ back _ around, facing Opal. “I, umm, I’m straight, so I don’t think- I’m not sure I’d fit in.”

Opal turned her chair side to side slightly as she sat. “You don’t have to be gay or anything to come. There are straight allies who show up.”

Asami nodded as she said “No, I just… I’m not sure I’d fit in, and I wouldn’t want people to feel awkward.”

Opal was looking at her like she was a tricky math problem. A beat passed before she spoke again.

“Ok. Invitation stands, if you change your mind.”

The two girls turned back to their respective desks, but Asami’s mind was still full of the colors on Opal’s wall.

After a few minutes, Asami spoke, despite herself.

“...How did you know you were bi?” As soon as the words were out of her mouth she regretted them. “No, I’m sorry, that’s a super invasive thing to ask, you’re busy, you don’t have to share that with-”

Opal’s voice cut her off. “Asami. It’s fine, I don’t mind talking about it, as long as you turn around so I’m talking to you and not your back.”

Asami swung her chair around, pulling a leg up onto the seat to hug her knee. Why did she feel so nervous whenever she looked at that flag? She tried her best to keep her eyes on Opal, and not the wall behind her, but had mixed results, at best.

“I grew up around like queer culture and going to Pride and such, my aunt is gay, so it’s just like always been in my life. So when I was in like sixth grade I just had this  _ huge _ crush on a girl in my class, she was like super tough and badass, to me at least, and so I was like ‘Ah, this is it, my sexuality coming into focus; I’m gay.’ But  _ then _ in ninth grade I ended up spending a ton of time with this guy who was also in the theater program, and he was super funny, and really nice, and I really liked him…”

Opal blushed a bit, here, a soft smile on her face. “He was my first kiss. And, like,  _ right _ after I kissed him I had a bit of a panic, because I thought I was gay, but I talked to my mom about it and she was like ‘Opal bisexuality is a perfectly valid sexuality, and you’re only a freshman in high school, it’s ok to still be figuring stuff out’. So, yeah.”

Asami’s gaze had dropped to the floor at some point in the story, and she just  _ knew _ she had a frown on her face and a furrow in her brow, which wasn’t how you were supposed to look after someone shared a personal story about coming to terms with their sexuality with you, but…

“‘Sami? What’re you thinking about?”

Asami didn’t answer.

“...You know, freshman year of college is  _ also _ a great time to be figuring this stuff out.”

Asami’s eyes snapped up to meet Opal’s. The other girl had a welcoming smile on her face. She opened her mouth to say something, to assert her ‘straight-ness’, to deny her inner turmoil, but… Nothing came out.

“I see you glancing over at Korra all the time in our freshman orientation seminar, or when we eat lunch together, and you’re like  _ always _ staring at my bi pride flag.”

Asami felt blood rush into her face; she didn’t glance at Korra  _ all the time _ , the other girl was just…

“I don’t look at her  _ that _ much… And I just… Like how do you  **_know_ ** , though?”

Opal scooted her chair across the carpeted floor, closer to Asami. “I mean, I already said how  _ I _ know, but… You don’t have to, like,  **_know_ ** , beyond a shadow of a doubt. Just like if you thought you knew, or think you know, you don’t have to stick with that. Like, you’re just 18, you don’t have to know  _ everything _ about yourself.  _ And _ , it’s never too late to redefine something about you. All you can do is be honest with yourself and your feelings.”

It certainly seemed easier to think about the way Opal put it, at least.

Opal glanced at her phone, and stood. “I’m gonna head over to the Pride meeting; you  _ sure _ you don’t wanna come? Everyone there, except maybe the straight allies, have been where you’re at right now. No one’s going to judge you if you show up and don’t say anything, or show up and say you think you’re bi, or show up and say you’re straight and then next week say you’re bi, or whatever. Honestly I’m mainly going for the free food tonight, it’s like a potluck thing where the older members all bring something and all the freshmen get to just eat.”

Well, with a pitch like  _ that _ , it just made sense for Asami to go. Free food was a money saving opportunity, it was just fiscally responsible to go.

  
And if Opal also said that Korra usually was at the meetings, that had  _ nothing _ to do with Asami’s enthusiasm for getting them out the door on time.


	24. Lily

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is part 4 of the Community Garden AU! If you haven't read days 3, 10, and 17, it's gonna be a little weird probably, but like you do you.

It’d been, to put it lightly, a bad month.

Four separate projects Future Industries was working on had spiralled out of control in unique ways (problems with local government, very important paperwork missing, HR scandal, and construction errors due to mistakes in the blueprinting phase), and Asami wasn’t sure when the last time she’d been home.

Hell, most days she wasn’t sure when the last time she’d  _ slept _ .

She was weathering it, moving from video conference to phone call to hiring interviews to replace the people who had been fired, and her assistant and Opal had been helping, ensuring she ate food and such.

Things had started to slow down, and it felt like there was a light at the end of the tunnel,  _ and _ that it was visible, and drawing nearer. Still, Asami was more than a little irritated when, at 2:30, her phone  _ didn’t _ ring for the conference call she had scheduled.

At 2:32, she was about to call her secretary and ask  _ what the hell was going on _ when her intercom buzzed to life.

“ _ A Ms. Waters to see you, ma’am. _ ”

Asami frowned down at her intercom, pressing the ‘talk’ button on her end. “Jess, a moment please?”

Almost instantly, her office door opened and her assistant stepped through, head turned behind her assuring  _ whoever Ms. Waters was _ that “Ms. Sato will be ready for you in a moment.”

When her office door closed behind them, Asami spoke. “Jess, I don’t- this isn’t on my schedule, I’m  _ supposed _ to be on a call  _ right now _ finalizing who we’re hiring to replace that engineering lead. I don’t have  _ time _ to-”

In a rare show of confidence, Asami’s assistant interrupted her. “Ms. Beifong rearranged your schedule earlier today, ma’am. She said you’d already decided who you liked best for the new position, and also that this meeting with Ms. Waters wasn’t one you could miss. I’m sorry, I assumed she told you.”

Asami blinked.

On the  _ one _ hand, she did trust Opal, and she  _ had _ already expressed her views on the candidates fairly clearly to her. So being on the final call wasn’t  _ necessary _ , per se, but…

But who was this Ms. Waters, and why was this meeting so important.

“Did Opal tell you anything about the meeting with Ms. Waters? Is she a reporter? Is this a grieving widow?”

Jess shook her head, allowing a small smile to break through her professional expression. “I don’t think she’s a grieving widow, ma’am. Or a reporter. I think it’s a more personal meeting?”

Now Asami was  _ truly _ lost. But she did still have a video call with the Fire Nation’s government in a little under an hour, so no sense in putting off the unknown. “All right, send her in I suppose.”

Jess nodded, and ducked back out of the office. Moments later, the door was pushed open and Korra walked into her office, a large canvas bag hanging from her hands, and a nervous smile on her face.

Asami’s brain short-circuited for a moment.

“I, uh- this isn’t- Hi.”

Korra seemed to relax at Asami’s complete and utter failure to be professional, and sat down in one of the two chairs opposite Asami’s desk, placing the bag in the chair next to her. “Hi. Sorry to just drop in on you like this. I know you’ve been, like,  _ really _ busy lately.”

Asami could only nod, still entirely baffled at the situation she found herself in. Korra continued.

“I was, uh… Well, here, we can start with this.” She reached into the bag next to her, and pulled out two mason jars, placing them on Asami’s desk.

Asami picked one up, examining it as Korra spoke.

“So, like almost three weeks ago now your raspberries started being ready to harvest, and I ended up going past them like four times over the course of the day, and you never showed up to get them. I was like ‘Oh, I guess she’s probably just busy, or whatever’, but then you didn’t show up the next day, and so on day three I figured I could just pick them for you; you’re busy running a huge company, I get it. But then I kept stopping by the garden, and I kept not seeing you. So I started calling here, asking to speak with you, but that didn’t really work because I didn’t really have a good reason to speak with you…”

“Anyways, I made them into jam because I figured it would keep the longest, and I wasn’t sure what else to do with them, and it’d already been a few days since they’d been picked and I didn’t just want them to go bad or something. And then after calling for like four days I mentioned the garden, and somehow got transferred to Ms. Beifong? She’s great, and we talked, and she said I should come bring you these today. So, here  _ those _ are.”

Asami opened one of the jars, smelling the sweet scent of homemade raspberry jam.

“Korra, that’s… You didn’t have to do this, thank you.”

Korra’s blush returned to her cheeks. “No, it’s- I like making jam, it’s pretty easy if you just take your time. Anyways, that’s only one of two reasons I’m here.” She turned to the side, and reached back into the canvas bag.

She pulled out a flowerpot, and set it on Asami’s desk.

The specific flower looked to be a variety of lily; it had six pale pink leaves, spreading out from it’s center, speckled with dark red dots. The flowerpot it was in was a nice, subdued one, almost undecorated aside from some curving whorls carved into the glazed clay, which was itself a dark red color. A plant label was stuck into the dirt, and read ‘ _ Redwood Lily _ ’.

“Korra, this is… It’s gorgeous.”

Korra smiled then, and it felt like the light in Asami’s office grew brighter.

“I, uh… I was talking to Opal about how I hadn’t seen you at the garden, and then she wanted to talk about the times I  _ had _ seen you there… She pushed me to do this, and if- if it’s weird, or you’re not interested I completely understand, but…” Korra swallowed, audibly, before continuing. “Asami, you’re one of the most interesting women I’ve ever met. A-and I’m not just saying that because you’re  _ also _ the head of one of the biggest companies in the world, or whatever; we haven’t spoken that much, but I’ve really remembered and treasured the times that we  _ have _ . And so I know that you’re still really busy, but after things calm down a bit here, I would really love to take you to dinner.”

It wasn’t often that Asami was struck speechless; she’d spoken with world leaders, given commencement speeches at graduations, been on countless tv programs for interviews, both friendly and more aggressive. But the reality of Korra, sitting in her office, having given her a gorgeous flower, and asking her on a date was…

Well, unprecedented, but it was also a fairly specific situation, so that made sense. 

“...That would be really nice.”

Asami’s face reddened as she realized how straight-forward she’d been, but Korra’s smile visibly grew at her words, so she tried to not feel  _ too _ embarrassed.

“Great. That’s, uh- my phone number is on the other side of the-” and here Korra turned the plant, revealing that the back side of the flower’s label had a phone number on it. “So, you can just call, or text, or… I work as a physical therapist, so it’s not- I don’t have, like, set hours, really, so just call when you’re free and we can work something out.” She stood from her chair, and Asami stood also; god, she had forgotten how much Korra drew her attention in the month since she’d seen her.

“I’ll do that. Thank you, Korra, for coming today. And for the jam. And the flower. They’re all lovely, I can’t wait to try the jam. And thank you for looking out for my plants, I’ll be sure to make it over to the plot soon to check on it.”

Korra’s smile was absolutely blinding now, and Asami wouldn’t  _ dream _ of looking away. “Oh, it’s fine, I like gardening, and I didn’t want to let your hard work go to waste, or get eaten by a bird or something. Anyways, uh, good luck with the like five crises that you’re dealing with or whatever, Opal wasn’t super specific but it sounds really stressful, so make sure you’re drinking enough water…”

Asami let out a laugh as she walked the other woman to the door of her office. “I’ll be sure to keep an eye on my hydration, thank you Korra. Things should be calmer by next week, so I’ll call you then?”

Korra’s nodding was  _ almost _ ridiculously enthusiastic, but only almost. As the elevator doors closed, Asami turned to her assistant, Jess, who was studiously looking at her computer monitor and  _ not _ at the almost unique interaction she’d surely just witnessed between her boss and a mysterious stranger.

“Jess, send a message to Ms. Beifong’s office saying that I would appreciate it if she didn’t alter my schedule without telling me first.”

Jess nodded. “Yes ma’am. Anything else?”

Asami sighed. “Also send a fruit basket to thank her for changing my schedule to fit Ms. Waters into it. Something ridiculous, with pineapple.”

Jess’ professional mask didn’t slip, but Asami could see the smile in her eyes as she replied “Of course, ma’am.”

With a deep breath, Asami turned and walked back into her office. She still had almost a half hour before her video call with some important government types; she spent almost all of it moving the lily around on her desk, trying to find where she liked it best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww korrasami! <3 <3 This fic idea sprang almost fully-formed into my head when I was trying to brainstorm ideas of what to do for the flower prompts on the femslash february list I found, and I think it turned out really cute. Yay flowers


	25. Water

It wasn’t easy, being married to the Avatar.

It wasn’t that they fought, or anything; being married to Korra was much like being her friend, except Asami got to spend much more time with the woman. And there was more touching. And kissing. And…

Well, alright. Being married to Korra had significant differences to just being her friend. But the living together, casual bits of it were similar. 

And sure, being the Avatar meant Korra almost always had lots of things to be doing; brokering a solution between spirits and the city, opening up a park, stopping a group of criminals… Much of her time was spoken for. But that honestly matched up with Asami’s schedule; running Future Industries was more than a full-time job, and it seemed like every day brought a new and exciting challenge (Asami thought it was exciting; there  _ was _ a most optimal way to lay out the city’s power grid by positioning the power stations in various places around the city, and finding it felt good). 

It was just… Some days it was like being married to a goddess.

A goddess that  _ everyone _ worshipped.

Asami had gotten over her jealousy a few years ago, now, had learned to deal with the crowds of people who would gather just for a  _ glimpse _ of her wife, who would become ecstatic if they could reach out and touch her, just for an instant. It was still disconcerting, but…

Asami understood how they felt.

She’d seen Korra do amazing things, had been by her side through events that were above and beyond even the stories of what avatars  _ before _ Korra had done.

And  _ sure _ , projecting up into a gigantic spirit to fight Kuvira’s mech was amazing.

But she’d really started to understand how the crowds felt when Korra had showed up to the docks during a bad storm, a year after they’d returned from the spirit wilds.

Maybe it was because Asami had grown up being taught that benders were evil, had lived a portion of her life being shielded from what they could do. Maybe it was that things felt different once she and Korra were officially together as opposed to when she was just Korra’s friend, feeding her growing crush with fleeting glances and compliments too sincere to be platonic.

Maybe it was just that Korra was amazing.

It had been a bad storm, rain pounding down onto the city streets, and the boats at the docks bobbing up and down in the huge swells. Korra had just returned from a trip to the earth kingdom, and so arrived later than she would have to the docks.

There had been other benders there; water benders trying to sooth the waves, earth benders trying to protect the buildings near the beach. But the storm was too big for any of them to handle.

Asami always thought it was interesting, the way Korra’s bending looked different from everyone else’s.

She was pretty sure it was because no one else learned other styles of bending, or even if they did, no one else used other elements besides the one they were born with. There was a difference in learning earth bending styles to improve your stability, and bending the earth to your will.

Korra had walked down onto the beach, wind howling around her, and water crashing against her legs. She’d tried, at first, to just calm the ocean in front of her; her stance had been wide, her movements fluid as she’d slowly started to take control of the sea and the rain around her.

But the wind was too much, she’d told Asami later. It had kept stealing the top layer of the water away from her control, and so the waves had persisted.

And so, casual as anything, Korra had entered the Avatar state to solve the problem.

Asami would never admit it, but she  _ was _ scared of Korra in the Avatar state.

Not because it wasn’t Korra; it  _ was _ , even if it was a more serious, less talkative version of Korra. No, it was because it was impossible to ignore how powerful, how strong Korra was, when she was casually displaying a mastery of the elements of the world in a way that would go unmatched while she was alive.

Riding a spinning pillar of water, Korra had flown out into the harbor proper, and simultaneously soothed the ocean and the sky.

It sounded so simple, when written down. And even in the moment, it had only taken two, maybe three minutes to achieve.

But the waves had been crashing angrily, the wind had been blowing fiercely… and then they  _ weren’t _ .

The damage to boats and nearby buildings was small, and no one had been hurt. The crowd of people present had cheered and clapped as Korra arrived back on the shore, and she’d waved, and smiled, and blushed at the attention.

And Asami had just stared at the woman she loved, who had seen the very forces of nature acting in one way, and said “No”. Had seen reality itself existing one way, and decided it would be better if it was another.

Asami tried not to treat Korra like a goddess, tried to treat her just as her friend and lover, but…

It was hard, is all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me - I could write something about Asami wanting to be a bender, or like something about how Korra looks different bending water vs the other elements
> 
> Also me - Asami's married to a god and that's wild any way you slice it.


	26. Silver

Korra walked into the apartment, closed the door behind her, and faceplanted directly onto the couch with a loud groan.

“Babe? Everything ok at work?”

Korra made an assuring ‘uh-huh’ sound, but didn’t otherwise move her body. She felt the couch move as Asami sat down next to her, and moments later felt a hand stroking her hair. 

“You wanna talk about anything? It’s only Wednesday, usually faceplants only happen on bad days or on Mondays.”

Korra finally deigned to move, squirming on the couch until she was on her back, staring up at Asami. Green eyes looked down at her, with a mixture of worry and amusement in them.

Korra let out a sigh. “We’re just having an all-staff meeting on Friday, at like  _ four _ , which means it doesn’t matter what my individual schedule is, my day won’t be over until that meeting is and you  _ know _ it’s gonna take like at least an  _ hour _ , even though there’ll probably only be like at  _ most _ twenty minutes of important stuff to cover…”

Asami ruffled her hair. “Well, that’s a problem for Friday Korra, not Wednesday Korra. C’mon, go change out of your work clothes. You  _ know _ you always feel better after you do.”

Korra made a valiant effort to stay on the couch, claiming it was stretching her back nicely, that it was too comfy to move, but when Asami stood to go back to the office (the second bedroom in the apartment) Korra let out another large sigh and dragged herself off of the couch.

“Hey ‘Sami, I’m gonna take a shower before putting on other clothes, m’kay?”

Korra heard a muffled acknowledgement from Asami, and moved into the bathroom.

She liked to shower in the evening anyways; showering in the morning meant she just had to wake up earlier. And if you washed your hair, then it was just all wet for the start of your  _ day _ unless you used a blow dryer but  _ then _ you had to endure the loudness of a  _ blow dryer _ before you were really awake… It just made more sense to shower at night.

One shower later, Korra stepped out of the bedroom, sweats and a t-shirt situated on her body, towel still in use drying her hair. Asami had moved from her office to the living room, and was clicking through Netflix. She glanced up as Korra approached.

“Hey love.”

Korra walked over to the couch, and pressed a kiss to Asami’s cheek before stepping over the back of the couch to collapse into a seated position next to her. “Hey babe. Don’t you usually work later than this on Wednesdays?”

Asami shook her head, turning back to the television. “I shuffled some stuff around to get finished early so we could eat together. I’ve got extra time on Friday since you won’t be off work and bugging me to spend time with you at 2 like normal.” Asami punctuated her statement with an  _ incredibly _ exaggerated eye roll, and nudged Korra with her shoulder.

Korra retaliated by grabbing the remote. “Great, we can watch that documentary about losing! Everyone I’ve heard about it from says it’s really good.”

Asami agreed, and they settled in for a casual late afternoon of netflix and cuddling. Korra was just starting to have dinner-related thoughts when their doorbell rang.

Korra looked towards the door with a frown; it was six PM, who would be here? Asami, however, stood quickly and crossed to the door, opening it and greeting the  _ delivery person who was there _ .

One quick social interaction later, Asami closed their door, and returned to the couch laden with food.

“Asami, did you order dinner already?  _ Oh my god did you get Narook’s _ ?? But they take  _ forever _ to deliver!”

Asami grinned triumphantly, and began spreading the food containers across the coffee table. “You were stressed, I knew you wouldn’t start thinking about dinner plans until you were hungry, and that’s too late to actually  _ plan _ anything, and Narook’s always takes forever to order because of how popular they are, so I ordered while you were in the shower for a delivery at six.”

Korra took in the scene in front of her, Asami proudly organizing Korra’s favorite food in the city across their cute little coffee table, and she knew. In an instant, she saw the reality of their situation clear as day.

“Marry me.”

Asami froze, then, for an instant. She recovered quickly, and quite well; a signature Asami Eye Roll and a grin hid her flustered blush, and she started saying something about how much of a tease Korra was.

“No, shit, this isn’t- one sec.”

Korra practically vaulted off of the couch, and ran into the bedroom. She went straight to their dresser, straight to her sock drawer, and straight to the back; there she grabbed the ring box she’d only been hiding there for a month, ever since she passed it in a shop window and realized it was perfect for Asami.

When she got back out to the living room, Asami was frozen, again, on the couch. Her eyes tracked Korra’s hands, one held behind her back, as Korra approached the couch.

“Korra,” Asami began, but Korra cut her off, walking around the edge of the couch.

“Asami, no, look- This isn’t- I love you. I’m not done writing what I wanted to say when I asked this, because I didn’t think I’d be proposing for  _ months _ yet, I was gonna like find a good  _ poem _ or something, but- I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Asami. I realized it, just now, and I don’t want another  _ moment _ to go by without you knowing it every second of every day too.”

Korra opened the ring box as she sat down again next to Asami. It was a simple ring, two silver bands woven in an overlapping pattern, with only a small jewel at it’s top.

Abruptly, Korra was struck by how little they’d  _ actually _ spoken about marriage; they’d talked about it enough for her to get the ring, but it had been abstract, in their future, seemingly far off. Their conversations had been late at night, both in bed, almost dreaming about their shared future. What if this wasn’t-

“Yes.”

Korra’s eyes flew up to Asami’s, which were now shimmering with tears, as Asami reached forward and cupped her face.

“Yes. Yes, yes, a  _ thousand _ times yes Korra.”

And then Asami’s lips were pressed against hers, and there wasn’t room for any more talking.

The kiss didn’t last long, they were both too filled with nervous energy to truly get lost in it, and so Korra soon took the ring from the box and slid it onto Asami’s finger. As she’d known as soon as she’d seen it in the window, it looked  _ perfect _ on her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's right it's *a second proposal chapter* because i'm a hopeless gay romantic


	27. Historic AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a 1920s AU! Even though the world of LoK is like 1920s + bending! It's fine, it still counts!!

“I don’t get it Mako, how are they having a wine tasting party if it’s illegal to sell alcohol?”

“Because it’s a  _ rich person party _ , Bolin, duh! Now c’mon, help me get the drumset inside.”

Bolin shrugged, and continued to unload bits of their gear. It was a paying gig, after all, and clubs were closing down right and left, so those were getting harder to find.

When he entered the mansion’s ballroom (also; this  _ mansion _ had a  _ ballroom _ ) Bolin had to admit; it was a nice venue to play in. High ceilings, fancy-looking windows, and a large flat floor that, hopefully, would be covered in people dancing.

Korra was already up on the stage (this ballroom had an actual  _ stage _ , who  _ lived _ here?), smoothing her dress nervously and fiddling with the piano, also on the stage (the piano, at this point, didn’t surprise Bolin). As the brother’s approached, she spoke.

“How’d you get this gig again?”

Mako set down the bass drum, rolling his eyes. “ _ Look _ , Korra, they heard us play last year in that club, the underground one, and so when they wanted to find live music for this  _ wine tasting _ party, they thought of us.”

Korra sat on the piano bench, opening and then closing the key cover. “Mako, this is the nicest piano I’ve ever  _ seen _ … What are we  _ doing _ here?”

Mako sat next to her. “Hey. We’re here to play some great music, and entertain some ridiculously rich people. Just don’t break the piano and we’ll be fine.”

Korra let out an exhale that could have almost been a chuckle.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The gig was going really well.

_ Surprisingly _ well, in Korra’s opinion, but she was used to things going wrong for no good reason, so that might’ve colored her expectations.

They’d been mainly left to their own devices, after a brief introduction from the house’s owner, a big business type who wore a fancy suit and had a cigar chomped in his teeth while he’d been talking. The instructions they’d received ahead of time were simply “play jazz”, and so they’d been cycling through their favorites, giving the audience a wide spread of faster and slower songs.

Mako had lost a drumstick, being a little overly ambitious during a fill, but that’s what stick bags and spare sticks were for; plus, after the song was over, someone from the crowd had walked onstage to hand it back to him, and they’d chatted all the way through the next ballad, Mako’s brushes swishing lazily across his snare and cymbals as his head was turned almost completely to the side.

And if Korra and Bolin tried to push the tempo a bit faster on the next uptune, well… Mako was a big boy. He could handle it.

Just after that song ended, a woman walked onto the stage, and towards Korra. She bent down, her expensive earrings dangling as she did so.

“Excuse me, I was wondering… my husband is the one who hired you, so I only feel slightly bad for asking; could I swap in on piano for a couple songs? I haven’t had the chance to play in a group in years.”

Korra blinked, but recovered quickly, sliding off the bench and allowing the woman to sit. As she did so, she motioned Korra to lean closer.

“Also, my daughter would  _ love _ to dance with you, she’s been staring at you all evening.”

Korra looked into the crowd, following the woman’s pointing finger, and saw a girl, about her age, with long dark hair, turning away from the stage, and blushing furiously.

Korra blinked, and started walking off the stage. And while it was surprising to be pointed towards someone’s daughter to  _ encourage _ interaction, what was even more surprising was the music that came from behind her; as she stepped down the stairs to the ballroom floor, the trio behind her launched into a song, and  _ instantly _ Korra realized the older woman was a better piano player than she was.

But she was rich and married, so Korra figured her spot in the group was pretty safe.

She made her way over to the woman’s daughter, who was now watching her mom on stage with a fond look of exasperation.

“I have it on good authority you wanted to dance, Miss…”

The girl blushed again, but less intensely. “Asami. And if we could just pretend my mother  _ didn’t _ just go up on stage to play to get you to dance with me, that would be  _ fantastic _ .”

Korra nodded, seriously, and extended a hand. Asami took it, and spun them into a dance; the song was nice and quick, and the two women spun around each other on the dance floor, twirling and grinning as they did so.

“You know, you’re almost as good a dancer as you are a piano player.”

Korra chuckled. “I can’t tell if that’s an insult or a compliment, but I choose to believe the latter. Thank you.”

Asami laughed in response, and it sounded like sunshine on a rainy day. Korra kept her blush under control, but only  _ just _ .

The song ended, and smoothly moved into a slower tune; Korra glanced up at the stage and was met by a grin from the piano.

“So your mom seems… nice.”

Asami groaned as they rotated slowly on the spot. “She’s great, just… a little overbearing. But I haven’t seen her play like this in a while, she’s really loving it.”

They kept dancing, conversation flowing intermittently between them, as the song continued. Korra learned that this wasn’t just  _ any _ mansion, but the Sato Estate (™), and had been in the family for generations. She learned Asami’s mother had gone to school for piano, but had her heart stolen by her father when they’d met at the world’s fair in Paris.

Korra tried to ignore how different the lives of the rich were.

In return, Asami learned that Korra, Mako, and Bolin had been playing together for almost a full year, that Mako and Bolin were siblings, that Bolin  _ really _ wanted to play guitar but was terrible at it compared to his skills on the bass, and that Mako broke an average of one drum stick per month.

All too soon, the ballad ended, and the applause from the crowd increased as Yasuko, Asami’s mother, stood from the piano and took a flamboyant bow.

“I, uh, should get back on stage, then.”

Asami smiled back at her, a faint blush on her cheeks. “Thank you for the dances.”

Korra only  _ almost _ tripped walking back up the stairs, but Yasuko was passing in the opposite direction and caught her arm.

“Those looked like very nice dances.”

Korra glanced up, into piercing eyes of the Sato matriarch. “They, uh, they were; your daughter is a very skilled dancer.”

Yasuko laughed. “In my experience, Korra, being good at dancing is only half the battle; it takes  _ two _ to really make a dance look like something special.”

Korra sat back at the piano, ignoring the whispered comments and questions from her bandmates, and started playing the intro to one of her favorite songs, more to force them to start playing and stop harassing her.

Later that night, as they loaded the drumset and the bass into the van they’d all bought together, Hiroshi Sato, the man with the cigar, congratulated them on a “gig well played!”, and handed over a check for double what they’d agreed on. While they stammered out thank-yous, he explained he wanted them back in a month for another evening just like this one.

As Korra closed her eyes that night, her mind was full of thoughts of dancing, and bright green eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yasuko would be 1- Incredibly supportive of Asami, 2- the type of parent to embarrass their child while also wing-womaning for them, and 3- great at piano. Change my mind.
> 
> (Also I have *no idea* where this fic came from, I thought I was gonna do an 80s AU until I woke up this morning, and here we are, so I hope you liked it.


	28. Hands

Asami hadn’t had many friends growing up.

It was a consequence of her father running one of the largest companies in the world; as soon as people discovered who she was, they tended to either straight out ask for money, or just be passively offended that she didn’t compensate their time spent with her with money. 

Maybe it had just been her high school. Either way, she hadn’t ever had a friend like Korra before, that was certain.

Because as soon as she was friends with Korra, she realized that Korra came with  _ more _ friends; she met Mako, and Bolin, and then Bolin started dating Opal, and suddenly Asami had people to spend Friday nights with. And she was grabbing lunches with Opal, going to Bolin’s theater productions and having study sessions with Mako. It was a new sensation, having not only social obligations but people she  _ enjoyed _ spending time with.

But it meant she didn’t have a baseline of comparison for the things Korra did that were… confusing? Maybe ‘surprising’ would be a better word.

Like, for example; Korra was a hugger. She hugged dogs, she hugged trees (literally), she hugged strangers upon being introduced to them, and she hugged her friends when she saw them.

It was great. Asami had definitely hugged Korra more than anyone else in her life by half-way through her freshman semester, she’d counted. And that was almost a year ago, now. Korra was a great hugger, and it made Asami feel welcome, and valued, and… loved.

(And  _ yes _ , Korra smelled like rain on pavement, like sweat and saltwater, like sitting under a blanket watching the stars.  _ Maybe _ that helped with how the hugs made Asami feel.)

And Korra hugged  _ all _ her friends, which was fine. But… It felt like Asami got hugged  _ more _ . Asami got hugged ‘hello’  _ and _ goodbye, and her hugs seemed to last  _ slightly _ longer than those she watched Korra give their friends.

(She’d tried to figure out a way to subtly time the hugs, but couldn’t figure out a way to do it without holding either something resembling a stopwatch, or a stopwatch. Maybe being the  _ recipient _ of a hug just made it  _ seem _ longer, some sort of mild time dilation effect on one’s perception?)

But the hugs weren’t even the thing that Asami noticed first. No, it was just how often Korra  _ touched _ her.

She’d noticed it first at a Friday night party, thrown by Opal in celebration of getting a good grade on a paper she’d pulled an all-nighter to bullshit her way through. About halfway through the night, Asami and Korra had ended up lounging on a couch, with Korra’s legs draped across Asami’s lap.

It was comfortable. And Asami had frowned, because she had always thought of herself as a woman with a strong sense of personal space. But Korra was  _ definitely _ in her personal space, and… it was fine. It was  _ good _ .

At the time, she’d written it off as being slightly (moderately) drunk. Alcohol enhancing physical sensations, and so forth.

But then she’d noticed how often Korra ended up in her personal space, and how much she enjoyed it.

Besides the hugs, it was the casual touches on her arm, or squeezes on her shoulder, to get her attention; it was nudges from the hip or elbow as they walked together. It was how  _ close _ they walked, whenever they walked together. Korra was just a tactile person, that was all. She’d grown up with casual touch, and so she expressed herself through casual touch around her friends.

And that would’ve been ok, it would’ve all been perfectly  _ fine _ and  _ manageable _ if Asami didn’t have such a huge, gigantic crush on the girl.

She wasn’t even sure when she realized she  _ had _ a crush, but it must’ve been after that party, because suddenly Asami felt like she had a wildly heightened awareness of Korra’s body around hers. It was like her body was made of ice, and Korra was a being composed entirely of flame; any touch from Korra, intentional or not, seemed to linger on her skin.

The solution, obviously, was to try to ignore it.

Any action on her part had a good chance of changing things between her and Korra for the worse; while she  _ did _ indulge her imagination sometimes, and think up scenarios where the touches escalated into more  _ intentional _ touches, and  _ kisses _ , almost every realistic scenario Asami could think of ended with an awkward conversation, less physical contact from Korra, and less time spent with Korra overall.

And so Asami did her best to take no action, to act no differently than she had been acting before her gay mess of a self recontextualized every interaction, no matter how small, between her and Korra.

And that worked  _ fine _ . Asami was touch, she’d survived most of her life without Korra in it, she could survive having Korra in her life as a good, close friend. Even if she wanted more, she could handle it.

The end of that way of thinking started in a fairly innocuous way.

“Hey ‘Sami, you know when Korra’s showing up?”

It had been a simple question, asked at a simple time; it was another Friday night, and the rest of the gang was already present in Asami’s living room, screaming at each-other over a game of Drink & Drive Mario Kart (the rest of the gang being, in this instance, Bolin, Mako, and Wu. Opal was in the kitchen with Asami, currently).

Asami responded as she continued to pour bags of chips into bowls. “Oh yeah, she said she had dinner with her parents tonight so she would be late.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Opal narrow her eyes. “When did she say that? I haven’t heard from her since two days ago, before her stretch of finals started.”

Korra’s finals schedule this semester had, for whatever reason, lined up in such a way that she had most of the week empty, and the last two days of finals packed almost morning to night. She’d been complaining about it all semester (rightfully so, in Asami’s view; the university should really try to schedule better so things like this didn’t happen), and so everyone knew that she’d be dying to let off some steam after her last final today.

Asami shrugged. “Last night. Apparently it was a last-minute type deal, her parents just called her and said that they were in town already, for a business thing. Her dad’s like a governor or something, did you know that? Anyways, he had to come for a meeting, and then her mom joined him so they could try to see Korra. They’re spending more time together tomorrow before flying back south.”

Asami arranged the bowls of snacks in an appealing way, and turned fully to face Opal. Opal, who was looking at her like she’d just said that she’d been to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, and it had been quite pleasant, actually.

“...She talks to you about her family?”

Asami blinked. “Uh, a bit? We were chatting a while ago about parents, and I was bitching about my dad, and-”

“You talk to  _ her _ about your  _ dad _ ?”

Opal’s voice was getting louder, and, for whatever reason, Asami didn’t want the boys joining in on this conversation, whatever it was.

“God, Opal, relax.  _ Yes _ I’ve talked to her about my dad; we’re really close, and she’s easy to talk to. You know things with him kinda… broke bad, before I came to college.”

She didn’t bring up any more, but she figured she didn’t have to; it had made the tabloids, after all, her father yelling at her outside a fancy restaurant on a Friday night. She’d come out to him as bi, and hoped that since she was his daughter his views would be at least tempered somewhat from their usual bigotry.

They had not.

Opal’s face changed into an apologetic one. “Yeah, I know. I just… You don’t talk about that with  _ anyone _ . And I don’t know if I’ve ever heard anything about Korra’s family besides that she’s got a huge dog she loves, Nargle?”

“Naga.” Asami corrected, without thinking. “She’s adorable, apparently Korra’s been trying to get her parents let her move into an off-campus apartment so she can bring all her furry glory up to Republic City.”

Opal stared at Asami for a moment, eyes still narrowed in concentration.

“...So what’s going on with you two.”

Asami felt the flush rising from her stomach, and turned to the fridge to grab a drink and hide her face. She let out what she  _ hoped _ sounded like a casual laugh. “What, me and Korra? We’re friends.”

She closed the fridge, and turned to find Opal had advanced closer, and wore an expression that would’ve been more at home on an interrogator than a pre-med student. “You two are like  _ always _ together,  _ apparently _ you talk about stuff with each other that no one else gets to hear about, and you’re like constantly  _ touching _ . Are you guys sleeping together?”

Asami’s hand slipped, and the beer bottle cap she’d been prying off flew out of the kitchen. “ _ What? _ Opal, no, we’re just friends.” She was positive she was visibly blushing now, but that was the life of someone as pale as she was. “And, and, and you and Bolin talk about stuff with each other too! Like when your mom came to visit?”

Opal’s face grew predatory, and a grin appeared on her face. “Yeah, we  _ do _ talk about stuff privately, but  **_we’re dating_ ** , Asami. Also, you sure are blushing a lot there. You really that put off by the idea of sleeping with Korra?”

Asami felt the blush extend to the tips of her ears, and down her chest. “ _ No _ , obviously, she’s amazing, and smart, and like absurdly in shape, and a great communicator, I’m sure she’d be a great sexual partner, I just haven’t thought about it before.”

She was rambling, and she knew it. What’s  _ worse _ , the end of her sentence, the  _ lie _ that she hadn’t thought about sleeping with Korra, had gone up at the end, making it sound more like a question than a statement of fact.

Opal’s smile grew. “ _ Holy shit _ you totally have a crush on Korra!”

Asami slapped her hand across Opal’s mouth, eyes darting to the living room. The sounds of high-intensity gaming failed to change, and so her focus shifted back to Opal.

“Ok  _ look _ , first off  _ shut up _ . Second, even if I  _ did _ have a crush on Korra, I wouldn’t do anything about it. I value our friendship too much for that. If I told her, she’d just feel awkward and then put distance between us while I got over my feelings. I can just get over them without telling her.”

Opal’s face fell, like her mom had just told her that, unfortunately, this year Christmas had been cancelled. “Asami  _ what _ ? Have you  _ met _ Korra? She’s like-”

“I’m what?”

Both women jumped, turning in the kitchen to face the apartment door. Korra was there, keychain in hand, closing the door behind her, a bemused smile on her face.

“A, uh, champion beer pong player.” Asami lied. “Opal was telling me about a party freshman year…” Her voice trailed off.

Opal, for her part, did  _ nothing _ to support this fabrication. “Hi Korra, how’s it going?” She move forward to greet the girl with a hug, after rolling her eyes at Asami.

Korra gave her a hug, and then moved on to Asami. “Hi guys, glad I didn’t miss too much! And I guess I’m ok at beer pong; I haven’t actually played that much. Opal, what party was that?” Asami tried to act casual as Korra moved from hugging her to standing next to her, both looking at Opal, with her arm still around Asami’s shoulders. 

From the smug smile on Opal’s face, Asami wasn’t doing a great job. “Oh, you got pretty drunk, I’m not too surprised you don’t remember it. Anyways, I gotta talk to Asami really quick in the bathroom, we’ll be right back.”

As Asami was pulled out of the kitchen and into the bathroom, she briefly noticed her television had changed from Mario Kart to… was this Casablanca? What were the boys yelling about then?

Her train of thought, and view of the tv screen, was cut off when Opal slammed the door shut.

“Oh my  _ god _ she has  **_keys to your apartment?_ ** ”

Asami blushed again, and tried to roll her eyes, to explain it away as something casual, but…

The truth was Korra was the  _ only _ other person with keys to her place. Her father didn’t have any, for obvious reasons, and besides Korra the only other people who were here often were here right now, and mainly showed up on Friday nights.

Korra, even before Asami had  _ super casually _ given her a key to her apartment, had been showing up often.

It was nice. Just having someone else around, just the soft noises another body made, even if they were both studying, or reading, or napping between classes… It helped the apartment feel more like home.

Asami’s mouth opened and closed a few times, but no words came out. The long and short of it was that  _ yes _ , Korra did have keys to her apartment,  _ yes _ , Asami had been freaking out over giving those keys to her, and  _ yes _ , Asami had a gigantic crush on Korra.

Opal seemed to take pity on Asami’s struggle to speak, and grabbed both of her shoulders. “Ok ‘Sams, look. Are you a useless bi-lesbian disaster? Yes. But that’s not actually what I wanna say here. Korra’s  _ obviously _ into you, so just  _ talk _ to her! It’ll go well, I promise!”

Asami’s face changed quickly from a beet-red to a bloodless-pale white. “Wha- No no no no no, I don’t- No, that’s- No. No, she wouldn’t want to-”

“ _ Asami! _ She’s been single for all of college. She spends like  _ all _ of her free time with you, or talking to you, or talking  _ about _ you. Even when you’re not around she talks about you constantly. So just  _ go _ for it!”

Opal gave her a pat on the shoulders, and walked out of the bathroom, leaving Asami staring at herself in the mirror.

Just go for it. What incredibly useless, awful advice.

How was she supposed to even bring it up in conversa-

“You ok? Opal seemed a bit flustered coming out of here, she was rolling her eyes and muttering under her breath.”

Asami’s eyes moved from her reflection in the mirror to the doorframe behind her. Korra was there, leaning against it, a concerned look on her face.

Asami turned around, smiling. “No, it’s- Yeah, I’m fine. C’mon, let’s go drink. We gotta catch up to the boys if we want this to be a party and not three people taking care of three drunk idiots.”

Korra laughed, and Asami tried to ignore the fluttering in her chest that always happened when she heard that laugh. “Alright, lead the way. I’ll have what you’re having.”

Asami walked past her, also ignoring the feeling that she was walking past a burning star, that she could feel the proximity to Korra on her skin, and back to the kitchen.

Alcohol first. No matter  _ what _ ended up happening tonight, alcohol first. She could…  _ consider _ Opal’s words after that.

Maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go! A whole month of Korrasami! Thank you *so* much to everyone who's commented, especially multiple times, I've loved reading all y'all's thoughts on everything, and it's been nice having confirmation I'm not the only one who thinks my stupid ideas are funny. <3 Love y'all


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